No Day But Today
by everybrandnewmorning
Summary: Peter thought that his day was going to be like any other day in White Collar...oh how wrong he was. He never thought that at the end of the day he would become the guardian of a 16 year old, and not any 16 year old but his own nephew who was just arrested.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

Peter was seeing red. He couldn't believe that this was happening. His own nephew, for God's sake. What kind of reputation would he have in the office now that his own nephew was arrested? That wasn't really what mattered, he knew that in the back of his mind. What mattered is that his own nephew was so troubled at the moment that he got arrested. Did he mention that it was his own nephew? Yeah…he thought so.

"Boss, you are going to wear a hole in the carpet if you don't stop pacing," Diana, Peter's probationary agent, said in amusement from where she was leaning against Peter's desk.

Peter looked up at her for a moment, hearing the hint of amusement in her voice. She was the picture of confidence leaning against the desk. A very strikingly beautiful young woman, dressed in a business suit and black heels. He had known her for many years now, and trusts her frequently with his own life. He knew that she was taking this as seriously as he was, she was just using a little bit different of an approach to the situation.

"You're right. Pacing isn't doing anything to help the situation, is it?" Peter admitted with a sigh, sitting down behind his desk on his rolling black office chair. "Of all the situations I am prepared for—and I would say that is a very high number—this one just wasn't on my list."

Peter closed his eyes for a few moments and ran his fingers through his hair in his stress. When he got up this morning, he thought it was going to be another typical day in White Collar—not that any days at the FBI could really be called typical. He was supposed to go to work and arrest "bad guys" so that he could protect others. He would have never in a million years imagined that one of those "bad guys" would be his half-brother's son.

"Have you heard from his family lately? Had any clues that he was getting into trouble of any sort?" Diana asked, unfolding her arms and straightening up.

"No, I haven't spoken with my sister-in-law in a very long time. She kind of went downhill after my brother died. She started drinking and cutting everyone out. Janet and I got into one too many disagreements and she made it perfectly clear that she didn't want my or El's help and that we should mind our own business," Peter explained, feeling a little stab of pain in his chest with the realization that he hadn't stepped up to see how Cooper or Blaine were doing through everything.

"You have to call her, you know," Diana reminded. "You have to tell her that you have her son in custody in the FBI building as we speak."

"You're right," Peter replied, and mentally added to his statement. 'As always.'

Peter begrudgingly picked up the black office phone sitting on the corner of his desk. It was sitting right next to a picture of his wife Elizabeth and he couldn't help but take strength from the sight of it. Elizabeth was always calm and collected in all sorts of situations. She always seemed to know the right words to say and the right way to say them. Peter wished that he had that gift, but after ten years of being married to her, he had come to the conclusion that it was something you are born with and not something that is learned.

"Hello?" a familiar voice asked through the speaker, sounding rough and as if the speaker smoked several packs of cigarettes a day.

"Janet, it's Peter," Peter said, shifting in his chair to sit up straighter and hopefully convey a tone of authority through the phone.

"And what do you want, Peter?" Janet asked. Her tone was not rude exactly, just more confused as to the nature of the phone conversation. The two hadn't spoken in at least five years, so Peter figured that she had every right to be confused as to why he was calling.

"I'm calling because I currently have Blaine sitting in one of my interrogation rooms," Peter replied with a sigh. He didn't want to cut straight to the chase like he just did, but really there was no way to soften those words.

"What the hell did that boy do this time?" Janet barked into the phone, taking Peter by surprise for a few moments.

"He was caught stealing a painting from the Met, and is suspected of having forged and stolen some others," Peter replied, and then realized what she had said. "What do you mean this time? Has he gotten into other trouble before?"

"Don't even get me started," Janet replied in exasperation. "That boy has been nothing but trouble for the past couple years. He has been acting up in school and getting detention all of the time for missing homework and skipping classes. His grades have been abysmal. He likes to stay out all hours of the night."

"Well Janet, did you ever ground him?" Peter asked, not wanting to overstep his boundary, but really very curious as to how she was handling the situation. What kind of parent would allow it to escalate to this? He couldn't really give too strong of a judgment on the situation, he wasn't a parent after all, but he had seen Janet after the death of her husband and he couldn't help but infer that maybe she wasn't stepping up to the plate.

"What, you think that you could have raised him better? You think that it's my fault that the little shit got into the trouble that he did?" Janet yelled into the phone.

"That's not what…" Peter began, but got immediately cut off by Janet.

"You know what, you raise him then. I'm done. You have full responsibility for him now. See if you can do much better. I will get whatever paperwork you need signed, but I'm done."

With that said, Janet promptly hung up the phone. Peter stared at the receiver in shock for a couple minutes, sure that he was dreaming this. He couldn't really have just been given full responsibility for a sixteen year old.

"Boss," Diana asked confused, snapping Peter out of his stupor.

"She told me that he is my responsibility now," Peter admitted, his tone laced with confusion. "I really don't know what to do now. Should I call her back? Should I argue that you can't just give up a child like that? There is proper paperwork to be filled out and there is…"

"Boss!" Diana yelled, snapping Peter out of his rant. "You should perhaps call Elizabeth. As you said, there are documents that have to be filled out, but given his current predicament Blaine could be placed in your custody. You would be both handler and parent. Either way, you need to talk to Elizabeth though."

"This is why I keep you around," Peter replied with a small laugh.

"Among many things," Diana said with a smirk. "I'm going to go talk to the Director and see what kind of deal we can strike up for Blaine. You and El are going to need your privacy for this conversation."

Peter nodded his head in thanks and then watched as she walked out the door. He was stalling a little by doing so, and he knew it well and good. How exactly did one tell their wife that they had now been given custody of a sixteen year old? Elizabeth had always wanted kids, but he imagined starting with a baby and starting with a sixteen year old were two entirely different stories. This was not going to be an easy conversation.

After a few more moments of stalling, Peter finally picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number. It rang three times before the soothing voice of his favorite person in the world came through the speaker.

"Hi, Peter. Is everything okay?" Elizabeth asked, almost as if she knew that there was something wrong already. Peter always had a suspicion that El could read his mind. She always said that it was just that she knew Peter so well, but sometimes Peter was pretty convinced that there were some other-worldy things going on.

"Not really," Peter admitted with a sigh.

Peter told the story straight without any interruptions from El. She just listened in silence, taking in all of his words. After he finished what had happened he took a deep breath and waited for El to speak.

"I will get the guest room ready," Elizabeth said in a tone of finality.

"Are you sure?" Peter asked, sagging in the chair in relief. "This is a big responsibility that we're about to take on. Not only is he a teenage boy, but he is a teenage boy who is in a hell of a lot of trouble."

"Peter, he's your nephew," Elizabeth began, her tone emphasizing the fact that she thought his statements were unwarranted. "He really needs someone there right now that can provide a steady and disciplined lifestyle."

"Well he is sure going to get some discipline," Peter said, some of his anger coming out once more. "I'm not sure what the bureau is going to allow, but I'm sure he isn't going to like it. I just want to keep him out of jail at all costs."

"He doesn't have to like it," Elizabeth stated. "He just has to live with it."

At that moment there was a knock on the office door. Peter looked up and saw Diana standing there once more, holding a stack of papers in her arms.

"Thank you for being so amazing about this, El," Peter said, shifting in his chair. "Diana is back with news of what kind of deal we can strike. I will hopefully be home fairly soon with our new charge in tow."

"I will wait up for you then," Elizabeth replied.

The two hung up and Peter turned all of his attention toward his probationary agent. He just hoped that she was coming baring good news.

"So I have good news," Diana began, as if reading Peter's mind. He seriously swears that this must be a super power that only women have. Maybe they all are in on it together and just lie to men about it as a part of some women pact or something.

"That's what I like to hear," Peter said, standing up from his chair and joining Diana at the small round table in the corner of his office.

"I'm not sure that Blaine will like it, but it's the best he is ever going to get," Diana explained. "It's a new program that they were wanting to try out, but had yet to have the chance to do so. They thought this would be the perfect opportunity given how trusted and successful of an agent you are. It has many rules, with the option for you to fill in many others that you feel it leaves out. They are testing this program out with juvenile delinquents to hopefully lower the terrible recidivism rate."

Peter looked at the papers that she was spreading across the table and immediately got the gist of what this program entailed. She was right in thinking that Blaine wouldn't be happy with several aspects of it, but it really was just what the boy needed.

"This is perfect," Peter said after he glimpsed over all aspects of the plan. "I think that it's finally time that I go and surprise our young little felon with my presence and deliver the news."

Peter had yet to reveal his presence to his nephew. He had been caught and brought in by the team that included one of Peter's favorite agents Clinton Jones. They had been tracking Walter Clarington and knew that he had partners that he was using, but did not know their identities. Peter had sent some members of his team to the Met when they heard a rumor that Clarington himself was going to be staking out the building. However, the team got a surprise when they found a teenager there stealing a painting—that teenager turning out to be none other than Blaine Anderson. Peter was in a meeting when Blaine had been brought in and it was only when Diana came into the room to inform him of what had happened, that he found out Blaine was even in the building at all. He immediately went with Diana and peeked in on the interrogation room. He looked through the two-way mirror at Blaine sitting there uncomfortably, but decided that he didn't want him to know that Peter was an agent on the case yet. He didn't want to go in until he could tell Blaine much more accurately of his fate. He also didn't want to go in there until he could calm down a little bit. He didn't want to go in when every word that he said came out of shock and wasn't processed before he spoke.

Peter walked up the stairs and into the main area of the interrogation rooms, trying to figure out what he wanted to say to his nephew as soon as he walked in. So far he was unable to come up with anything, so he figured he would just play it by ear when he did. He reached for the door and pulled it open.

The noise of the door opening caused Blaine's head to snap up to inquire as to who was coming in. Upon recognition, Blaine's face immediately paled. It wasn't like the boy didn't know that his uncle was an FBI agent. He just really didn't know what department he was in and figured the chances of having to encounter him were slim to none. Clearly he didn't think that one through.

Peter stood there in silence for a few moments, taking in the sight before him. Blaine was dressed like a typical teenager. He was wearing a white t-shirt, a pair of faded jeans and black converse. There would be nothing out of the ordinary about his appearance, if it wasn't for the glint of the silver handcuffs that were currently cuffing him to the table. Peter mentally noted that there was no way they could be comfortable, but all other criminals that sat there were in the same position and he didn't feel he should be lenient with his nephew in that aspect.

"Uncle Peter…" Blaine finally stuttered out. "I didn't…what are you…"

"What am I doing here?" Peter asked, faking nonchalance. "I work here Blaine. I work in the White Collar department of the FBI. My presence isn't the one that should be questioned here, it's yours."

Blaine clearly had no response to that, and took instead to staring down at his cuffed wrists as if there was an answer to the meaning of life written upon them.

"How could you seriously think that you could steal a couple paintings and forge a couple more without getting caught?" Peter asked, his voice raising the more of the sentence he spoke.

Blaine winced, but other than that made no clear sign that he heard what Peter had said or that he planned to respond. His mind was reeling though—they only knew about the painting that he stole that night, right? The rest had to just be an assumption based on them trying to connect the dots. He was sure that they weren't originally after him, meaning that they had focused on Mr. Clarington. They were assuming that everything that had been done was his work, but it was just an assumption—right? He couldn't ask what they knew though, not without arousing even more suspicion.

"Do you understand how idiotic of a thing that is to do?" Peter asked, trying to keep his calm but failing miserably. "Are you trying to ruin your life? You could go to jail for this, Blaine. Is that what you want?"

Blaine almost spat out a sarcastic answer, that yes, clearly he dreamed about going to jail. He wasn't insane though. After a few moments of silence Blaine muttered out a soft, 'No.' Peter had to strain to hear it because it was so soft.

"You are very lucky that you have an uncle in my particular position or that is exactly what you would be looking at right now," Peter continued. "I expect you to take the punishment that you do get and be extremely grateful for it because it could be a hell of a lot worse!"

Blaine shifted uncomfortably in his chair at those words. He wasn't entirely sure what his Uncle was talking about, but from the sounds of it, he wasn't going to jail. He didn't like the sound of 'the punishment you do get' though. What in the world would that be?

"I have spoken with your mother and you are coming to live with Elizabeth and myself," Peter began, trying not to go too in depth with that part. He knew that Blaine was trouble, but he couldn't imagine giving up on the kid like she just did. Peter studied Blaine intently to see what Blaine's reaction would be to those words, but the boy didn't really react at all. He kept a passive face and continued to stare at his hands.

Blaine understood the meaning behind the words, but didn't find himself terribly surprised by them. His relationship with his mother was nothing short of terrible. They hadn't gotten along in years…not since he came out at least. Sure his father passing had created a major rift in the entire family, but that was nothing compared to when he uttered out those three taboo words to her.

"I will explain more to you in the morning when we will sit down with Elizabeth. For now, you just need to know that you are going to be living with us and wearing a tracking anklet with a two mile radius."

Blaine's head snapped back up at that one, and he did not look happy.

"Two mile radius or jail, your choice," Peter said before Blaine could protest.

Blaine sighed and looked back down at his hands. As if there was even a choice there.

"That's what I thought," Peter said, happy that Blaine had given up that battle so quickly. Peter turned toward the two-way mirror and gestured for Diana to come into the room.

A few moments later she walked through the doors, carrying a small sleek black anklet. It had two rectangles on the side, currently dark because the anklet had not been activated. Blaine looked up as she walked into the room and couldn't help but stare at the device that would be his new companion. It looked so harmless, and yet he knew the thing was going to be a big pain in the ass for him. It was still a million times better than jail though—he hoped.

"Please put your foot on the chair next to you," Diana said, her tone not giving any room to argue.

Blaine did as he was asked; awkwardly shifting as much as he could with his hands cuffed to the table in front of him, and put his left foot on the chair. Diana quickly attached the anklet around his ankle and one of the boxes turned green. Blaine glanced at it for a few moments before lowering his foot back to the ground. When he set out on his mission today he never in a million years thought that he would end up in this odd situation. He would have thought someone was crazy if they told him that he would end up with a tracking anklet around his leg, sitting in an FBI interrogation room, handcuffed to the table, with his uncle sitting across from him.

"Alright Blaine, let's go home," Peter said, standing up from the chair. He gestured for one of the agents outside to come in so that they could unlock Blaine's handcuffs. They immediately did so, and the moment that Blaine's wrists were released, he rubbed at the sore red marks on them. Peter was right; there was no way that sitting there with them on was comfortable.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The car ride home was very awkward. Neither one of them said a word to the other, both lost in their own thoughts. Peter and Elizabeth had moved out of their home in the city to the suburbs a couple years previously. The city was beginning to get too cramped for them, and they wanted more space to potentially expand their family in the future.t They liked the space that the new home allowed them, and the yard and nearby parks they could walk around in. There were very few moments that Peter regretted moving to the suburbs, and this one was one of them. He just didn't know what to say to Blaine. Part of him wanted to chew him out for his behavior and poor life choices. The other part of him knew that they all had to sleep on it.

Blaine on the other hand was sitting in the passenger seat mourning what his life was about to become. The job was supposed to be super simple and easy. He had gone over the plan several times in his head and figured there was no possible way for him to get caught. Mr. Clarington had even assured him that it was a simple job that anyone could do.

_ The security cameras were set on a loop. The alarm system had been disabled. He knew the exact rounds and rotation of the guards. The job should be easy enough, provided that he got the timing of it exactly right. He knew exactly which door to slip in and out of. Once he slipped the painting in his backpack he would be able to blend in with the rest of the New Yorkers. That was one good thing about New York, it was the city that never sleeps. Even at the late hour that it was, there would still be a good number of people wandering around that he wouldn't cause too much suspicion. _

_ He got into the Met, according to plan. So far it was as simple as Mr. Clarington claimed it would be. He got to the painting, and with the alarm disabled, he was able to make quick work of getting it off the wall and out of the frame. He put the frame back on the wall, all with gloved hands of course. He wasn't stupid enough to leave any DNA evidence. Mr. Clarington had taught him well. He lifted the painting to put it in the container that he had brought with him. _

_ "FREEZE!" a voice growled out from behind him. "PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" _

_ Blaine dropped his backpack and everything on the floor in his shock. His arms immediately shooting up in the air like he was demanded to do. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. For a split second he had the urge to run, but he knew that he wouldn't get very far. There were too many of them and only one of him. _

_ His arms were yanked roughly behind his back and he felt the cold metal of handcuffs clap around his wrist. He was dead. His mother was going to kill him. Mr. Clarington wouldn't be too happy either, but he would deal with that one later. Clearly, the job was not as clear-cut as the man had thought it was going to be. If anything, it was his fault. _

He just wanted this long car ride to end and to curl up in bed and hopefully awake the next morning to realize that it had all been one long and twisted nightmare. After what seemed like ages, Peter finally pulled into the driveway of a two story brick home with a wrap-around porch. The home was very beautiful, Blaine would give him that. He just didn't know if it would ever feel like home like the streets with his friends did. His own house with his mother never did, so why should this?

Peter pulled to a stop in the garage and they both got out. Peter noted that there was a car out front that he didn't recognize, but didn't think too much of it. Sometimes the neighbors would have a couple people over and they would be forced to park in front of other people's houses because they ran out of room.

Peter opened the door that led into the kitchen and hit the button for the garage door to close. Blaine followed closely behind him through the door and into the house.

"Blaine," Elizabeth said as soon as the two closed the door behind them. "It's good to see you again."

Elizabeth walked up and pulled Blaine into a tight hug, one that he didn't even know he wanted or needed until that moment.

"Hi Aunt Elizabeth, thank you for having me," Blaine said, his manners kicking in. He may have lived mostly on the streets for the past couple years, but he still held on to the manners that his father taught him when he was younger.

When Elizabeth pulled out of the hug, Blaine found that they weren't alone in the room. Standing there, looking almost the same as the last time he saw him, was none other than his older brother Cooper Anderson. He still had the same shaggy and wavy brunet hair and piercing blue eyes as Blaine remembered.

"Cooper…what are you doing here?" Blaine asked in confusion.

"My little brother gets arrested and you really think that I wouldn't be here?" Cooper asked, raising an eyebrow. His tone left no question as to how frustrated and annoyed he was with the situation. He was clearly not happy with Blaine. "Aunt Elizabeth called me to tell me what had happened."

Blaine fidgeted on the spot, glancing down at the floor in front of him. He wanted to be angry at Cooper. This was the brother that he had hardly seen in the past couple of years, who had not helped out with his situation at all. He just didn't have the energy in him at the moment to fight him though. He was so drained. All he wanted to do was curl up in a warm bed and sleep.

"Blaine, why don't you go upstairs and take a shower. I can show you where it is, as well as where you will be living," Elizabeth offered. "I'm sure that it's been a long day and you need some time to unwind.

Blaine wanted to protest. He was sure that Peter and Cooper were going to stay down here and talk all about him, probably with Elizabeth in the loop as well. He really didn't like the idea of not hearing what they were saying. He desperately wanted to know all the details of this supposed plan that his uncle had for him. He wasn't good with the unknown.

He wasn't stupid, though. He knew his aunt's 'suggestion' wasn't really one at all, it was an order put very nicely. No matter how much he protested, they were going to talk about him to each other.

"Thanks, Aunt Elizabeth. That would be really great," Blaine replied with a small smile, and begrudgingly turned and followed his aunt up the staircase. The house had a very homey feel to it. He was sure that it was all thanks to Elizabeth, she always did seem to have impeccable taste. He cringed to think about what the house would look like if Peter was in charge of the decorating. It would be an absolute nightmare.

His aunt led him up the stairs and down the hallway, all the way to the end. There was a bedroom to his left and a bathroom right across the hall to his right. She led him into the bedroom first, and showed him that she had left some of Peter's old clothes on the bed for him to change into since he didn't have any clothes or pajamas with him. Then she showed him into the bathroom and pointed out the shampoo and the towels for him to use. He thanked her and then watched as she walked off. He was finally alone with his thoughts now, not sure if that was really a good thing or not. He just knew that there was a lot to think about.

Downstairs, Peter, Elizabeth and Cooper all sat around the kitchen table with cups of coffee. They heard the shower turn on a couple moments after sitting down, and all seemed to take a collective sigh.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," Cooper said after a couple moments of silence. "I mean, I knew there was a little trouble in the last couple years but I had no idea that it would be like this. I thought it was just limited to him sometimes skipping school and hanging out with his friends. I had no idea what these friends of his were actually up to."

"Were you around much?" Peter asked before taking a sip of his coffee. The hot liquid soothed him, releasing a lot of his tension that had built up throughout the night.

"No, my mother wasn't pleasant to be around. Unfortunately for Blaine, he didn't really have much of a choice but to be around her. I wish that I did more for him, but at the time it was just so much easier to not be anywhere near her. I just can't help but think, what if I visited the house more."

"I honestly don't know that you could have done much," Peter admitted. "He wasn't doing this on his own. He isn't some criminal mastermind. He was working for a man named Walter Clarington, and I'm fairly certain that half the time he was living with him and his son. Your mother didn't provide him with a comfortable home environment, so he just went and found somewhere else that he fit in. No matter how many times you visited, you would still leave and he would be stuck with your mother once more."

Cooper mulled those words over for a moment. He knew how true they were. His mother hardly saw Blaine as a son anymore once he told her of his sexual preferences. He was bound to go out and look for a 'safe' place to be who he was. Unfortunately, it was with a man like Walter Clarington that he found that 'safe' place.

"Thank you so much for taking him in," Cooper said earnestly. "I just can't stand the thought of my younger brother in jail. How exactly did you get him out of it, though?"

"He is testing a new program for us," Peter explained. "He is going to be on a two mile radius with the tracking anklet that is on his leg."

"I'm sure he is thrilled about that," Cooper said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"That is an understatement," Peter laughed. "The whole idea behind the program is that maybe if these juvenile delinquents are kept outside of prison, but kept under very strict terms, that the recidivism rate might lower. He has the anklet to monitor him, but he isn't in jail. He can at least go some of the time without the world telling him that he is a criminal. He will go to school just like any other teen his age."

Peter began talking Cooper and Elizabeth through all of the rules. They both listened in silence, trying to imagine what it would be like to live like that. They both collectively agreed that though it was a million times better of an option than jail, it was not something anyone would enjoy. Elizabeth knew that she would have to seriously consider how she was going to go about being a guardian towards Blaine. This wasn't going to be like a normal parenting experience in many ways.

They were all so lost in their conversation that they didn't hear the water upstairs turn off or the pounding of feet down the stairs a few minutes later. The next thing they knew they saw a form walking into the dining room. They all looked up and glanced over at Blaine as he slowly walked in. He was wearing an oversized Yankees t-shirt and plaid flannel pajama pants that were slightly too big for him. Overall, he looked like a scared child. He looked much younger than the actual sixteen years he possessed.

"Er—I didn't know what you wanted me to do after I took the shower," Blaine said, awkwardly shifting in place.

Peter was sure that Blaine was just tired and overwhelmed. He would be much more willing to fight his punishment in the morning. He was going to revel in these few moments while he could though. El seemed to be thinking the exact same thing that he was.

"Why don't we all go sit in the living room and put on a movie," Elizabeth said. "It's late and Cooper should just spend the night here anyway."

Blaine's whole body appeared to sag in relief at her words.

"You mean I didn't come back down here to be yelled at and lectured some more?" Blaine asked, hopeful.

"No, that can wait until morning," Peter replied, sharing a stern look with Blaine to show that he was serious on that point. "It's too late and we are all too overwhelmed to handle anything else right now."

A few minutes later found them all spread out on the couches in the living room watching National Treasure. It had been Elizabeth's pick, being one of her favorite movies. She loved the combination of mystery and history that the movie provided. It may not be a hundred percent historically accurate, but who cares—it was sure entertaining.

Halfway through the movie Peter looked over to find that Blaine was sound asleep. He was curled up on the side with his feet sticking out of the blanket. He looked quite comfortable given that he was sleeping on a sofa after all. The furrow of his brow was the only thing giving away the stress and anxiety that he was certainly feeling about his whole new situation.

The next thing Blaine knew he was awoken by light streaming through his window. He couldn't remember where he was, and was confused as to why there was so much sunlight. His room faced the west so it usually didn't come in so early in the morning. Blaine rolled over and was jolted into reality the moment that his movement caused him to feel the anklet on his leg. Last night wasn't a dream, and sure enough when he opened his eyes he found himself in the guest bed in his aunt and uncle's home. He groaned and rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to wake up some more. He couldn't believe that he actually got caught…not only that, but that his Uncle was involved.

He smelled coffee wafting up the stairs, so he knew that he wasn't the only one awake in the house. He figured it was probably better to get up and get the awkward conversation over with. All of him screamed to stay in bed and pretend that he was asleep, but his stomach grumbling won out and he decided to go downstairs. He made his way down the hallway and then down the staircase that lead into the foyer by the front door. He turned and walked through the living room and into the dining room. He found that he was the last one to get up. Elizabeth was bringing plates upon plates from the kitchen to the dining room table. There were eggs, bacon, pancakes, and waffles and so on. It was like a breakfast lover's dream. Peter was sitting at the head of the table intently reading the newspaper, with Cooper sitting to his right drinking a cup of coffee.

"Good morning," Elizabeth said as soon as she saw Blaine standing in the archway between the living room and the dining room.

"Morning," Blaine grumbled out in reply.

This caused both Peter and Cooper to look over at him. Blaine avoided their eye contact, and instead headed to a seat as far away from the two of them as he could get at the table. Unfortunately as he approached the table he saw that the place was already set right next to Peter and across from Cooper for him. He couldn't be rude and sit elsewhere, so he took a deep breath and sat where he was supposed to.

"After breakfast," Peter said, and Blaine nodded to show his understanding.

If there was any way to take away someone's appetite like that, it would be holding the conversation on their fate until after a meal. Blaine powered through though. Elizabeth's cooking was as delicious as it looked and smelled. Blaine was definitely fuller than he had been in a long time when he finished that meal. Now it was time for the other shoe to drop though…

"Okay, let's move to the living room to have this conversation," Peter suggested. "No use being uncomfortable for it."

That was how Blaine found himself sitting on the couch a few minutes later with Cooper sitting on the couch to his left, Elizabeth sitting on the couch to his right, and Peter standing in front of him. He really felt like a child about to get scolded for not playing nicely.

"Let's start with the tracking anklet," Peter suggested. "So as you know you are on a two mile radius from this house. If you go outside of that radius I will be immediately alerted as to the situation, as will several people in the FBI. You will be given a thirty second warning period. The anklet will start beeping and you have thirty seconds to get back into the radius. If you do not do so, you will be arrested and I cannot guarantee that I will be able to get you out again with another deal."

"So I can never go outside of two miles from here?" Blaine asked, trying not to let any emotion be evident in his voice.

"Not unless you are with Elizabeth, Cooper or myself," Peter explained. "We would have to call the tracking company and let them know where we are going and that you are with us."

Blaine sighed heavily at this, but nodded. Two miles was still better than a jail cell after all.

"You will be joining me at work twice a week after school to help out. You will be doing jobs like filing, stapling and such. You will also be helping us with any useful information that you have on Walter Clarington," Peter continued, Blaine avoiding his gaze on the last statement. He had a feeling that he was going be asked to nark on the man. "The days you come to the office are going to be dependent on the next rule. You are required to join an extracurricular activity at your school. At the moment there are not specifics as to what extracurricular activity you should pick, but it has to be an official one."

"So I have to go to school?" Blaine asked with his eyes narrowed. "I'm sure I'm going to be making lots of close friends with this thing on my ankle!"

"You surely didn't think that you weren't going to have to do school?" Peter asked, raising his right eyebrow.

"No, I thought that I would at least be home schooled to save me the humiliation of being mocked by everyone," Blaine replied, rolling his eyes. He didn't like the insinuation that his uncle was making that he was stupid or naïve in some way.

"You will be attending an actual school where you must pass each class you are taking and must participate in an extracurricular activity that I approve of, is that understood young man?" Peter asked, not liking Blaine rolling his eyes at him. He was not one that handled disrespect very well.

Blaine folded his arms across his chest, not wanting to answer his uncle's question. He wasn't three years old after all. He really resented being called 'young man'. It was so degrading. He was sixteen years old, after all. He was damn good at what he did, and he was way smarter than most people his age.

"Blaine," Cooper said from his spot next to his brother. He punched him in the arm to get Blaine to look at him. "Don't be an idiot, you are in enough trouble as it is."

Blaine pouted in silence for a few moments before finally mumbling out, "Yes, sir." As he said, he was smart—he knew when to give in.

"Next thing on the list is curfew. You must be in this house on weekdays by 7 pm and on weekends by 9 pm. If there are circumstances that would have you miss this curfew you must run them by Elizabeth or myself first."

"Are you kidding me?" Blaine asked. Being called young man was one thing, but having such early curfews was an entirely different story. "I'm 16 not 12!"

"Those curfews are non-negotiable. They were stipulated in the plan drawn out for you. I didn't come up with them, and you will not fight them," Peter said, and then continued on because he was desperate to get this over with. "Next…"

"There's more?" Blaine asked, raising in pitch in his annoyance.

"I still have the cell phone that they confiscated when they arrested you. You will not be receiving that back. Instead I have your new cell phone here for you. Your cell phone usage will be closely monitored as well as your computer usage. Do not even think about getting a burner phone. I reserve the right to search your person, your belongings and your room at any moment without warning."

Blaine looked so pissed off at that statement. He was so mad that he couldn't even form words to express how mad he truly was. This was an outrage! How dare Peter think that he could just invade his privacy like that!

"Lastly," Peter said, powering through this dreadful conversation. "You will not be allowed to hang around any of you criminal friends. Anyone of questionable nature is forbidden. You will be in a hell of a lot of trouble if we find out that you are."

"And how exactly am I supposed to do that? They all live in the city, which is sure as hell outside of my two-mile radius. I can't even call them or email them, because you took my phone and are tracking my entire life!" Blaine cried out, getting so frustrated that he stood up from the couch.

"Can I talk to him for a moment?" Cooper asked, seeing that this conversation was leading nowhere good, fast.

Peter looked between the two of them for a moment, before he finally nodded his consent. He gestured for El to come with him, and the two headed off toward the kitchen. Once they were out of the room, although presumably still within earshot, he turned toward Blaine.

"Sit down," Cooper barked, startling Blaine into doing just that. "I expect you to be super grateful for everything that Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Peter are doing for you. If it wasn't for them taking you in you would be sitting behind bars as we speak. They are sacrificing so much to do this for you. I know that mom sucked as a parent, especially after…"

"Cooper," Blaine cut him off, not wanting him to finish that sentence.

"Just let Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Peter do this for you. Follow their rules. It's only until you get out of high school," Cooper said with a sigh.

"You mean this thing is staying on my ankle until I'm out of high school?" Blaine asked, his voice raising once more.

"Longer if you can't get your act together by then," Cooper said with a shrug.

Blaine sat there for a moment trying to take everything in. There were so many rules that he was going to have to remember now. He couldn't help but feel incredibly overwhelmed by everything that was happening. This time yesterday morning he had felt as free as a bird. Now it was as if someone had clipped his wings. He had to try to process this a little bit at a time.

"Where will I be going to school?" Blaine asked, hoping to get on a little more neutral of a topic.

"William McKinley High School," Cooper explained. "It's the local public school and is within walking distance from here."

"Am I allowed to have a car?" Blaine asked, hopeful.

"You don't even have your license yet, Blaine. You only turned sixteen two weeks ago," Cooper replied, rolling his eyes.

"Ah—so you do remember my birthday," Blaine replied sarcastically.

"I tried calling, but mom answered the phone and I didn't know your cell phone number," Cooper tried to explain but Blaine cut him off.

"Forget about it," Blaine muttered in reply.

"No, I've been a horrible brother to you for the last couple years and I plan on making that up to you. We are going to work to make things right once again, okay?" Cooper pleaded.

Those were the words that Blaine always wanted to hear. He was just sad that it took all of this to be able to hear them. If there was a silver lining in any of this it had to be the fact that he was no longer living with his mother, and that Cooper appeared to be coming back into his life once more. He just hoped that he would be able to live with all of these new rules without messing everything up. His mother constantly reminded him of how much of a screw up he was. Clearly so far, he had lived up to her words. He just hoped things could be different now.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you so much to those of you that have favourited or reviewed my story. It means the world to me. I hope you like this chapter, someone really special comes in.**

**Chapter 3**

Blaine fidgeted in the receptionist's office at William McKinley High School while he waited to go in to see Principal Figgins. So far, the high school seemed just like his old high school, long hallways filled with lockers. Posters on the walls advertising different school clubs and a football game happening that Friday afternoon. They were at the school earlier than the student body, since they had to meet with the principal. Blaine hadn't seen any of the students yet, but he figured that they would probably be just like his old school as well. Peter was sat in the chair next to him as calm as could be. So far, Blaine thought Peter only really had two emotions: calm as could be or angry. He figured it was just a part of him being an FBI agent. He had to remain calm in tricky situations, but then be intimidating when it came to interrogating suspects.

"Principal Figgins will see you now," the receptionist finally said, a woman in her mid-forties with graying hair and cat-eye spectacles.

Blaine had to put all of his will power into standing from the chair and following his uncle into the office. His fight or flight response was telling him to utilize the flight response, but he knew that wouldn't get him very far. Damn anklet.

Principal Figgins was a man of medium build, with tanned skin, dark hair, and the distinct smell of curry and spices. Blaine and Peter sat down across from Principal Figgins, in chairs just as uncomfortable as the ones in the reception area. Blaine was just happy when he noted that he was wearing long enough pants that his anklet didn't show, even when he sat down. He made a mental note that he would have to test out all of his pants before coming to school to make sure they were the same. Elizabeth had taken him shopping the previous day to get some clothes and school supplies for him.

"Welcome Mr. Burke," Principal Figgins said, "I take it this is your nephew Blaine Anderson."

Peter nodded in reply.

"Now I have looked through all of Blaine's files and such, and I unfortunately cannot say that I was overly thrilled with everything that I saw. He seemed to have a problem with truancy as well as behavior in class. Add to that the fact that he was just arrested…" Principal Figgins began.

"I can assure you that it won't be a problem this time around. Blaine wasn't in the best situation before, and he didn't have the proper authority figure to keep him in line. My wife and I are going to make sure that there is no repeat of the problem," Peter assured.

Blaine sighed and shifted in his chair. He really didn't like to be talked about as if he was not in the room.

"I will hold you to your word on that," Principal Figgins replied. "I don't take any shenanigans from the students in my school. Is that understood, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine nodded his head and was immediately elbowed in the side by Peter, suggesting that he should actually speak, "Yes, sir."

"Welcome to McKinley High then, Mr. Anderson," Principal Figgins said, searching around his desk. He finally picked up a manila envelope and passed it over to Blaine. "This is your school schedule as well as your locker number and combination. You will be given your text books by your teachers in each of your classes. There is also a map located in the folder. You best get going, class starts in five minutes."

Blaine nodded and stood up from the chair. He walked out of the room without another word to either his uncle or the principal. He started searching through the envelope and found his class schedule. His first class of the day was to be French with Madame Posey in 211. He quickly consulted the map and made his way to the classroom. By some lucky twist of fate he was able to make it there without getting horribly lost. He walked in and talked with the teacher for a moment. She handed him a French textbook, and then gestured for him to sit anywhere in the classroom that he liked. Blaine headed toward the back of the room as everyone was filing in. He didn't want to sit anywhere that too much attention could be drawn towards him. When he sat down he finally looked up at the other students walking in. For the most part they looked just the same as the other students from his school in the city, just as he predicted.

The bell rang and one more student filed in. Blaine's breath got caught in his chest by this student. It was the most beautiful boy he had ever seen. He didn't have anyone like this boy at his old school. The boy had a light brown coiffed hairstyle and had the most impeccable fashion sense that Blaine had ever seen. He was wearing suspenders for God's sake! His dark jeans were also so tight, that Blaine didn't know how they were anything but painted on to his body. The boy's white Doc Martin boots pulled the outfit together. The boy kept his head down as he walked to the seat in front of Blaine. He didn't seem to even notice that Blaine was staring at him, completely entranced by this boy. When he sat down, Blaine noted that he even smelled incredible. It was a light woodsy scent. Blaine couldn't help but lean forward a little so that he could drink in the smell even more.

The class ended up watching Le Ballon Rouge and a couple other short French films. This allowed Blaine all the time in the world to study the most amazing boy in the world in front of him. Blaine noted everything from the way that he tapped his pen on his desk when he was bored, to the fact that he was humming La Vie En Rose under his breath. Blaine also noted that there was sheet music sticking out of the boy's brown leather satchel. He grasped that as his chance to talk to the boy when the bell rang. The boy actually picked up his satchel so fast when the bell rang that the sheet music fell out of his bag. Blaine scooped them up immediately.

"Excuse me!" Blaine called, causing the boy to turn around. "You dropped these!"

"Thank you," the boy replied with a small smile. Blaine's heart skipped a beat at the boy's voice. He hated to sound cliché, but it was the voice of angels. It had to be.

"What are they for? Are you auditioning for the school play?" Blaine asked, not wanting to let this boy go. He wanted to stay here and talk with him forever.

"No, they are for a song that we are doing in Glee club this week," the boy with the voice of an angel replied.

Blaine nodded, unsure as to how to continue on with the conversation. He just stood there staring as the boy turned and walked out of the classroom. It was then that he decided that he had to learn everything that he possibly could about that boy and about Glee club.

His next class of the day was chemistry and when he walked into that classroom and introduced himself to the teacher he not only was given a book, but given a lab partner. His lab partner was to be a shorter girl with bangs, dark hair, and a strange fashion sense named Rachel Berry. When he walked over to sit down next to her he couldn't help but think that God was playing some kind of trick on him…or at least testing his patience. What sane high school student actually thought that it was okay to pair a unicorn sweater and a plaid skirt with loafers?

"Hi! I'm Rachel Berry," the short girl stated. "You must be Blaine Anderson. The whole school is talking about how we have a new student."

"They are?" Blaine asked, his eyebrow's raised. He was really hoping it was due to the fact that he was new, and not due to the fact that they knew what he did.

"Yes, we haven't had a new student in our grade since middle school," Rachel replied. "So do you sing, Blaine? I'm in our school's glee club. Of course, I am the lead singer and the star of the group. I get all of the solos, but we are always looking for other backup singers."

Blaine wanted to tell Rachel just what he thought of her ego, but was taken by the fact that she said glee club.

"The glee club is recruiting?" Blaine asked, trying to act nonchalant, but probably failing miserably.

"Yes, you could audition today right after school," Rachel replied, looking excited at the fact that he was showing interest in their club. "Everyone always meets for Glee after school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday."

"Okay, I think I will do that," Blaine said, making up his mind right away. He wanted nothing more than to get to know the most beautiful boy on the planet more. It was a shame that it came at the price of having to spend more time with Rachel Berry, but angel boy was worth it.

"Great! No one is going to believe that I actually recruited you! I usually scare people off, I think it's because I'm so talented that's it's overwhelming," Rachel pondered.

Blaine chose to refrain from making a comment on that. He knew for sure it wasn't Rachel's talent that was turning people away from her. The girl was scarily straightforward…not to mention that she had an ego the size of China. So far, he wasn't even sure she had the talent to match that ego. Only time would tell on that one, though.

The rest of the day flew by for Blaine, and the next thing he knew he was getting ready to walk into the choir room to audition for Glee club. He wasn't nervous all day, until he had the realization that he would be auditioning in front of Angel-voiced boy. He had to give himself a little pep talk about how he had stolen from some of the most secure museums in New York without getting caught. He could handle performing in front of someone so beautiful…he thinks…

As soon as he walked into the room Rachel was out of her seat.

"Everyone, this is Blaine. He is the one that I told you I got to audition for the Glee Club, even though you all didn't believe me," Rachel said with a pout. The entire choir room was starting at the scene with the mouths practically on the ground. He guessed Rachel had scared off her fair share of potential Glee Club members.

"Well it is nice to meet you, Blaine," a man in his late thirties, with a very curly head of hair, said from where he was sat on a piano bench. "I'm Mr. Schuester and I run the Glee Club."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Blaine said, wanting to look good in front of Angel boy, even though he refused to look around the room to find him. He was going to wait until after he had performed to look at him. "I have my audition prepared."

"Well go right ahead then," Mr. Schuester said, gesturing that the floor was his.

Blaine immediately walked to piano and sat down. He had decided that he was going to audition with Teenage Dream, because it had been the most recent song that he was messing around with on the piano. There seemed to be a general hum of excitement that he was going to play an instrument when he sat down. When he started to play the first bars of Teenage Dream and people began to recognize the song the excitement grew exponentially.

'_You think I'm pretty, without any makeup on…'´_Blaine began to sing, losing himself in the music. He made the mistake of looking up halfway through the song, and immediately locked eyes with the Angel himself. Blaine's heart started racing, but ever the showman he carried on. When he finished the song he realized that he had been singing the second half of the song solely to the Angel. He blushed nervously, hoping that no one else had noticed.

"Well I think I speak for everyone when I say, welcome to Glee Club," Mr. Schuester said, starting to clap.

The rest of the Glee Club began to clap as well, and much to Blaine's delight that included the Angel.

"We should probably do quick introductions now that you are officially a part of our club," Mr. Schuester said. "You have clearly already met Rachel. On her left is Finn Hudson (a tall thin boy with a McKinley High Varsity jacket on), Mike Chang (an Asian boy who was also a Football player), Noah Puckerman (a boy with a Mohawk and a football jacket) and Artie Abrams (a bespectacled boy wearing a knit pullover and in a wheelchair). In the row above is Tina Cohen-Chang (an Asian girl with a gothic sense of dress), Quinn Fabray (a blonde girl in a cheerleading uniform, who looked like she owned the room), Brittany Pierce (another blonde cheerleader who had a much softer manner about her) and Santana Lopez (a Latina cheerleader who looked like she had claws). Then in the top row we have Mercedes Jones (a black girl with a very loud and bright fashion sense) and finally Kurt Hummel (the Angel)."

Kurt Hummel. That sounded like the perfect name for the boy who looked and spoke so much like an angel. Blaine wanted to say the name out loud, to test how it felt on his tongue, but luckily stopped himself. That would be super weird after all.

Mr. Schuester gestured for Blaine to join the other students, and Blaine didn't hesitate to climb to the top row and sit next to Kurt. Kurt smiled at him when he sat down, and Blaine basically died on the inside. The rest of Glee club was spent with Rachel arguing why she had to sing a Barbara song for their Showcase. Blaine didn't really pay attention, way too focused on reveling in the fact that he was sitting next to Kurt. The next thing Blaine knew Mr. Schuester was dismissing the Glee Club.

"Catch you later Kurt, I have to run. I'm sorry I can't walk home with you, but my mom is waiting for me in the car for a dentist appointment," Mercedes said, waving goodbye to Kurt and rushing out of the classroom.

"I can walk home with you if you'd like," Blaine blurted out before his mind had time to process whether or not they were the words he should actually say and still be socially acceptable.

Kurt looked at him curiously for a few moments before finally nodding and saying, "Yeah, sure. I just have to run to my locker real quick to grab my Physics text book."

"Okay, I can come with. I have all of my books," Blaine replied, doing a cartwheel of excitement on the inside.

The two walked in comfortable silence to Kurt's locker, and Blaine waited patiently while Kurt retrieved his book. After he was done they turned and started walking out of the building. They both zipped up their coats as they got outside, the crisp November air hitting them immediately.

"So, how are you liking school so far?" Kurt asked, breaking their silence.

"It's okay. The classes are just like anywhere else. Rachel definitely makes Chemistry interesting. She is like no one else," Blaine said with a laugh.

"She's a little much to handle. I'm certainly surprised that she didn't scare you off," Kurt replied with a smile. "So where did you move here from?"

"I just moved from the city," Blaine replied, trying to keep his answer as vague as possible.

"Oh, your family decided to choose the quiet life in the suburbs instead?" Kurt asked.

"No, I moved in with my aunt and my uncle. Things with my mom just weren't working out," Blaine replied with a shrug.

Kurt seemed to sense that Blaine didn't want to talk anymore on that subject, so he switched topics.

"So your audition was incredible. That was an amazing version of Teenage Dream. You actually made me like the song, and that is saying a lot coming from a huge Gaga fan like me," Kurt bantered.

"Are you not a fan of Katy Perry?" Blaine asked, pretending to be wounded—stopping and clutching his heart.

"She's alright, just not as good as Lady Gaga," Kurt replied with a smile and a shrug.

"I don't know that we can be friends anymore," Blaine joked, falling into step next to Kurt again.

"It will be your loss then, since I am the best in our grade at French," Kurt divulged.

"Oh, well then I certainly don't want to ruin that. I'm going to need your extraordinary skills in that aspect to help me pass that class," Blaine replied honestly. "I guess I can look over the Gaga thing…for now."

"Good," Kurt said with a laugh.

Blaine continued walking forward, thinking that he wanted nothing more than to hear Kurt laugh forever. It was the most incredible sound he had ever heard. It was musical, and made Blaine sure that the boy could sing like no other.

He was jarred out of his thoughts by a loud beeping noise. They both stopped confused. It took Blaine a moment to realize what it was. He immediately took a step back and the beeping stopped.

"What was that?" Kurt asked in confusion, looking around to find a possible source of the abrupt noise.

"Er—nothing. I have to…uh…I have to go," Blaine stuttered out.

Blaine immediately turned around and ran off before Kurt could ask anything more. Blaine didn't stop running until he was back on the block his new house was on. He couldn't believe his stupidity. Kurt would never talk to him again if he found out about the anklet. He had no way to explain what had just happened, though. He couldn't walk Kurt home that was for certain. He must live right outside of his radius. That was super unfortunate. Blaine sighed as he unlocked the front door. He was happy that El and Peter wouldn't be home for a little bit. He didn't think he could deal with questions about his first day at the moment. He honestly wanted nothing more than to slump into his bed and hide away from the rest of the world. His day had been going so well until that moment too! Damn!

He ultimately decided that he had to get his mind off the situation, so he went to the kitchen and grabbed a snack and then sat down at the kitchen table to do some homework. He was still sitting there doing his homework an hour later when Elizabeth walked through the door. She greeted him and asked him how his day had gone. He mumbled a reply that things had gone well, and was very relieved that she allowed that answer to stick. He knew he wasn't going to be as lucky when Peter got home. The two of them were literally the epitome of bad cop and good cop. El was the good cop who worried about Blaine and wanted him to be happy. She wasn't going to push if he was uncomfortable and always seemed to sense when he didn't want to talk. Peter was the bad cop who was focused on discipline and rules. Blaine hated to admit it, but he knew Peter cared deeply about him too. He wanted Blaine to be happy, he just wasn't willing to bend his rules that he felt were set in stone the way that Elizabeth would.

Blaine finally finished his last math problem, thus finishing his homework, when Peter walked through the door.

"So how was your first day of school?" Peter asked, going over toward the coffee machine to get himself a cup.

"It was okay," Blaine replied with a shrug. He was testing to see if he could get away with it like he did with El. That, of course, was not going to happen with Peter.

"Did you join any extracurricular activity?" Peter asked, sitting down on one of the kitchen stools at the counter next to Blaine.

"Yes," Blaine replied. "I joined Glee Club."

Peter nodded his approval of that choice. He was actually pleasantly surprised that it was the club that Blaine decided to join. He was happy he didn't choose some half-assed club that rarely met and only watched unrelated movies or something.

"So," Peter began casually. "Why were you at the edge of your radius today?"

"You looked up my tracking data?" Blaine accused, trying to divert the subject.

"Of course I looked at your tracking data. It's required as part of your release that I know where you are at all times of the day," Peter replied, refusing to be swayed.

"I was just walking someone home from school and didn't realize that I was at the edge of my radius. They apparently live outside of my radius," Blaine mumbled in reply, going for a mostly true story. He was just omitting a few details.

Peter stared at him curiously for a few moments before deciding to believe Blaine's story. He nodded and stood up from the stool with his coffee in hand.

"Well if things get serious between you and this girl, I expect to meet her," Peter said, and then turned and walked off to go watch ESPN.

Blaine sighed when he walked out of the room. It didn't really matter, though. He was sure he had ruined any possible chance that he had with Kurt when he freaked out and ran off. There would never be another time where he would have to skirt around walking Kurt home or worry about Kurt meeting his Uncle. He realized that he would have to figure out a way to dodge Kurt at school, though. It wasn't going to be all that easy. Luckily, Blaine only had French class with Kurt during the day. The tricky part would be Glee club which meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after school…great.


	4. Chapter 4

**Here is the next chapter for you. Once again, thank you to everyone that has either, reviewed, favourited or put this on their story alert! You guys are the best.**

**Chapter 4**

"So what days of the week does Glee club meet?" Peter asked Blaine the next morning as they all sat around the kitchen table for breakfast. This morning's breakfast was very simple. They all just had a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee—although in Blaine's case, it was a glass of orange juice because Peter thought Blaine was too young to drink coffee.

"Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays," Blaine replied, only half listening. He was still working on his plan as to how exactly he was going to get away with avoiding Kurt in school that day. The main problem was French class, because he couldn't very well prevent Kurt from sitting next to him in the class.

"Perfect, then you can head to work with me after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays," Peter said. "Cooper said he was going to work his schedule around picking you up from school so that he could take you into the city. He mostly works at home, so it shouldn't be much of a problem for him."

"Great," Blaine said, trying to reign in the sarcastic tone.

He had admittedly forgotten that he was supposed to go into the city a couple times a week to help out his Uncle at work. He didn't really want to talk about Mr. Clarington. It wasn't that he wanted to keep the man out of trouble, it was more that he didn't think Mr. Clarington would go down without a fight. Clearly he would know that it was Blaine who was talking to the FBI. Mr. Clarington's only other regular accomplice was his son, so odds were that it wasn't him that was going to nark.

"The tasks that I set you at work won't take too long. It will give you plenty of time to do your homework after doing them," Peter said, as if that was what was stressing Blaine out about the situation.

Blaine just nodded and got up from his place at the table. He was over breakfast already; he couldn't believe that he was actually preferring to go to school at the moment. At least he was being trusted to walk to school by himself. He used the word 'trust' lightly, though. It wasn't like Peter wouldn't immediately know if he decided he didn't want to go to school. The pain in the ass anklet would do that work for him.

Blaine walked into the school and immediately had to test out his skills at avoiding Kurt. Kurt was at the other end of the main hall talking with Mercedes. Blaine dodged down the side hallway and sprinted to his locker. He hurried to gather up his stuff and then headed to his homeroom. It was when he got to homeroom that he realized that he didn't go to it yesterday—he had no idea if Kurt was in this class or not!

Blaine felt like time dragged on slower than it ever had until the bell rang. He sighed in relief when he found that Kurt had not walked into the room, a thought just yesterday he never thought he would have. The only one that he recognized in his homeroom class was Tina. She was very quiet and sat in the front of the classroom, far away from Blaine. He wondered if Kurt had told all of his friends about how he had freaked out and ran off yesterday. By now the entire Glee Club probably thought that he was a freak.

Blaine had a plan for French class. He was going to hold off and be one of the last ones to walk into the classroom. That way he was picking the seat, not Kurt. His plan didn't work, though. He walked into the classroom and found that the only seat left in the classroom was next to Kurt. Blaine sighed and walked over and sat down next to the boy.

"Hey," Kurt said the moment Blaine sat down, "Are you going to tell me what that was all about yesterday?"

"It was nothing, sorry I just had something that I had to do," Blaine replied, looking anywhere but at Kurt.

"What was that beeping noise?" Kurt asked, but as if by some miracle, the teacher began talking at that moment. Blaine was saved. As soon as the bell rang, Blaine was up and out of his seat like Kurt had been the day before. He was just happy that he didn't have Glee Club that afternoon. It just meant that it was one less place that he had to attempt to dodge Kurt.

The final bell rang and Blaine hurried to his locker and walked out the front door. Cooper was chilling outside his car, leaning casually against it. He was getting several stares from girls who clearly thought he was very good looking. Blaine rolled his eyes and walked on over.

"Stop preening," Blaine said with a sigh. "You are out of college, you don't need to be leading jail bait on."

"I can't help being so good looking," Cooper replied with a smirk, clearly enjoying all of the attention he was receiving.

"Let's go," Blaine said, dragging him away from the hood of the car and pushing him toward the driver's door.

Blaine walked around the car and slumped into the passenger seat. Cooper got into the driver's seat, with way too big of a smile on his face in Blaine's opinion. Cooper definitely got way too much of an ego boost from this trip.

"Are you ready for this?" Cooper asked, pulling out of the spot and fiddling with the radio.

"No," Blaine replied with a groan. "But it's not like I have any choice in the matter."

"Blaine," Cooper said with a sigh.

"I know, I know," Blaine replied. "I should be grateful. I'm a teenager, though. At least allow me a couple moments of self-pity."

Cooper just rolled his eyes and settled on Z100.

"So, meet any cute boys at school?" Cooper asked after a couple moments of silence.

Blaine groaned.

"Is that a yes or a no?" Cooper asked with a laugh.

"That's a mind your own damn business," Blaine mumbled in reply.

"I will take that as a yes," Cooper said, ignoring Blaine's rude statement. "But based on the attitude, things aren't going the way that you planned."

"Wow, you are a regular Sherlock Holmes," Blaine's said, rolling his eyes.

"What he found out about the anklet and won't talk to you now?" Cooper asked.

"Not even close," Blaine answered. "He doesn't know about the anklet, and I'm the one who is trying to avoid him."

"Blaine, give the guy a chance. You never know, he could surprise you," Cooper said.

"Okay, Dr. Phil, I will think about it," Blaine said, shifting in his seat and hoping that the conversation was over.

Cooper luckily dropped it after that. The two brothers spent the rest of the ride into the city talking about football, a favorite of both boys. Despite what their mother thought, Blaine could be gay and still like things like football—some people loved to hold on to their stereotypes, though.

When Cooper pulled up in front of the FBI building, Peter was there waiting for Blaine. It had started to drizzle a little, so he was standing there with a black umbrella.

"How was school today, Blaine?" Peter asked as they started walking into the building, attempting to cover both Blaine and himself with the umbrella.

"Fine," Blaine replied with a shrug, not even trying to walk under the umbrella. He honestly didn't care if he got wet. It wasn't as if his looks mattered in the FBI building, half the people in there had seen him dragged through the doors in handcuffs.

"That's not an acceptable answer, Blaine," Peter said, stopping in front of the doors to the building and closing the umbrella.

"It was school. There were plenty of boring classes. Lots of students and lots of teachers," Blaine replied sarcastically. "Is that better?"

"Watch the tone," Peter said, but turned and opened the front doors.

Blaine followed him through the doors. He got a little bit of a shiver thinking about the last time he had walked through these doors. He had been handcuffed and had an escort of several FBI agents. It was humiliating. He was stared at by everyone in the vicinity. He had never been so embarrassed in his life. It was remarkably different walking through the doors this time. Hardly anyone gave him a second glance. The only time anyone paid them any attention is when they said hi to Peter. Before he knew it, he was walking through the door of Peter's office. Peter gestured to the table that was in the corner of his office.

"You are going to do your work there," Peter said. "I have everything sitting out for you. There will be no need to get up and move around, especially when I am not in here. If I catch you rooting around in the FBI office you will be in a lot of trouble, understood?"

"Yes, sir," Blaine replied with a sigh. He hated being treated like a criminal…despite the fact that he realized he technically was one. The heavy weight on his left ankle was a constant reminder of that.

Blaine sat down and got to work. He quickly got done all of the organizing and stapling that Peter had set out for him. After that was done, he got on to his homework. He had a worksheet for his Algebra class, a lab report to write up for Chemistry, a short essay to write for French, and a chapter to read for both American Lit and US History. He hated to admit it, but he found that working in Peter's office without any real possible distractions allowed for him to concentrate on his homework. He got finished quicker than he ever had, and felt pretty good about his work. He always knew he was smart. He had street smarts, but he also had the ability to well in school. The main reason he didn't do well in school before was because he didn't feel it was important to put much effort into it. He could learn more important lessons out in the real world than he could from textbooks or in a classroom.

"Blaine, how is everything going?" Peter asked, walking back into his office from a meeting. He was pleasantly surprised to walk in and see that Blaine hadn't messed around. He really had done his work for Peter and his homework.

"I just finished my essay for French, so I'm all done," Blaine said, stretching out to relieve his cramping sore muscles from sitting in the chair for so long.

"Good," Peter said. "Get packed up. I have a few questions about Walter Clarington and then we will be all done here."

"What do you want to know?" Blaine asked, shoving his books into his backpack. "Couldn't you ask me these questions any time?"

"I want my team to be there with me," Peter explained, gesturing for Blaine to follow him after he had zipped up his bag.

Blaine followed Peter out of the room, and quickly realized that they were once again headed for an interrogation room. He sighed and begrudgingly followed. To his surprise, and immense relief, at the last minute Peter turned right and went into a conference room instead of staying straight and walking to the interrogation rooms.

Inside were two agents, one that Blaine recognized as one of the agents that arrested him at the museum and the other Blaine recognized as the woman that had put the tracking anklet on his leg.

"Blaine this is Agent Jones and Agent Barrigan," Peter said, gesturing first to a man in a nice suit with his arm folded across his chest and then to a tall woman who was leaning casually against the conference room table.

"We've met before," Jones said with a laugh.

Blaine nodded, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

"Well, why don't you sit down," Peter said, gesturing toward one of the chairs at the conference table.

Blaine obliged.

"Now how did you meet Walter Clarington?" Peter asked, jumping right in as to waste no time.

"I went to high school with his son," Blaine replied, praying that all of the questions were this easy.

"Hunter Clarington?" Diana asked in search for clarification.

"Yes."

"Were you living with them at all?" Peter continued.

"Yes, I lived with them off and on since I was a freshman," Blaine answered. "It was much more preferable to my own home."

"Even though he was having you commit crimes for him?" Jones asked, incredulous.

Blaine didn't answer that, and instead shifted awkwardly in his seat and coughed.

"Was that part of the terms of you living in his house? Did you have to commit these crimes in order to stay there?" Peter asked.

"No," Blaine replied honestly. "The crimes didn't come until later. They just took me in because they knew how bad things were at home."

"Was there anyone else that was staying there with you?" Jones asked.

"No, it was just Mr. Clarington, Hunter and I," Blaine answered. "Hunter and I are the only ones that work for Mr. Clarington. We fulfilled different needs for him."

"And what exactly would you say the need that you filled for him was?" Peter asked, immensely curious.

"I am very knowledgeable about art," Blaine replied, trying to be as vague as possible. He didn't want to incriminate himself any more than he already had. He still wasn't sure that they knew for certain anything other than the stolen painting the time he got caught.

"As in you could produce forgeries for him?" Diana asked, not wanting to let him dodge the question.

"In theory, yes," Blaine replied.

"Except this wasn't in theory, Blaine, was it?" Peter asked, walking up behind Blaine and clasping a hand on his shoulder.

Blaine stared down at the table.

"Did you produce any forgeries for Mr. Clarington?" Peter asked, directly.

Blaine hesitated a moment before nodding.

"Well I think that we are done here for today," Peter said with a sigh. "I have some things that I need to research and then we will pick this up again on Thursday."

Blaine was relieved to hear his uncle say that—the part about it being done for the day, not the part about continuing on Thursday. Blaine got up from his chair and headed out the door with Peter following closely behind him. When they got down the steps one of Peter's coworkers stopped them. Peter and he began to talk. Blaine was only half-listening to the conversation, really thinking about what amazing food his Aunt would have prepared for dinner that night. His interest was only peaked at the end of the conversation.

"So are we going to see you and El at the Thanksgiving event this Friday night?" the man asked.

"Yes, I am actually going to give a speech at it," Peter replied. "El is excited about it, as always. I'm just hoping it doesn't go as long as it did last year. That was insane."

"I know what you mean," the man said with a laugh. "I will see you there."

The two wrapped up the conversation after that. Blaine waited until they were in the car to bring up what he had heard.

"So you are going to an event on Friday?" Blaine asked innocently, or as innocently as he could muster.

"Yes," Peter replied, and then glanced over at Blaine suspicious. "Why do you want to know?"

"I was just curious as to what you were going to do with me. Please tell me that I'm not going to have a babysitter or something," Blaine said and then shuddered in fear that Peter would actually do that.

"No, we are going to trust you to behave. It's not like I won't know if you leave the house anyway," Peter said with a shrug.

Blaine bristled at the reminder of his anklet. Peter certainly loved to remind him that there wasn't a moment that went by that he couldn't know exactly where Blaine was.

Blaine wasn't planning on leaving the house on Friday, though. He had a completely different plan. If ever there was a way to win over the rest of his school it was to throw the best party they had ever seen. He didn't really care about being popular, he just hoped to create a little bit of a buffer in case people in his school found out about his anklet. The anklet was definitely not going to lead to being very well liked.

Blaine planned for the next few days, talking to the biggest gossips in the school to get the news to spread. Come Friday morning, he was positive that there wasn't anyone in the school who didn't know that he was throwing a party. Blaine also applauded himself for his skills in avoiding Kurt. He had successfully been able to do so, even with Glee club happening on both Wednesday and Friday. He just made sure to sit nowhere near Kurt and to rush out as soon as French class and Glee club were over. He wasn't even sure if Kurt was trying to talk to him anymore.

Come Friday evening, Blaine sighed in relief as El and Peter walked out the front door, dressed in a suit and a fancy black dress. As soon as the car turned the corner and out of sight Blaine picked the lock on the liquor cabinet and the party was officially ready to start. He wasn't disappointed when the party was in full swing an hour later. He knew he was new to the school, but there was a good number of people there that he didn't know. There had to be some people from other schools that were crashing as well.

He had just gotten himself a cup of rum and coke when he was approached.

"Well you must be the famous Blaine Anderson," a voice said, causing Blaine to turn around toward it.

When he turned around, he found a tall brunet boy practically undressing him with his eyes. He was dressed in a plaid button down shirt, khaki pants, and Sperry boat shoes. He looked like he was from a very well off family. Some people just had the aura of money about them, and this boy was one of them.

"You know my name, but I don't know yours," Blaine said with a raised eyebrow, taking a sip of his drink.

"Sebastian Smythe," the boy replied with a smirk, clearly amused by Blaine.

"Are you in one of my classes or something?" Blaine asked.

"No, I actually go to Dalton Academy. I found out about this party from one of my friends. I am always up for a party, so I couldn't resist. Then I got here and heard everyone talking about the mysterious host. From what I've gathered you are new to Westchester and have half of the girls in your grade wanting to get in your pants," Sebastian drawled. "But I don't think you swing that way."

"And what gave you that idea?" Blaine asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He never had anyone read him so easily like that. Most people were shocked when they found out that he was gay. They all seemed to believe the stereotypes, a lot of which Blaine didn't fall into.

"Just a feeling," Sebastian said with a smirk. "My gaydar is unprecedented."

"Apparently so is your ego," Blaine replied.

"And you seem determined to crush it," Sebastian replied, "Is my flirting even getting anywhere?"

At that moment Blaine saw Kurt walk into the room out of the corner of his eye. He didn't know what took over him, but he pulled Sebastian close to him and planted one straight on his mouth. He knew that he was surely feeding this boy's ego now. When he pulled back he saw that Kurt was nowhere to be found.

"So I will take that as a yes," Sebastian said looking like the cat that got the canary.

"Don't read too much into it," Blaine said, and turned around to walk off.

"I see you believe in the saying 'leave them wanting more'," Sebastian called after Blaine, but Blaine ignored him in favor of spying on Kurt.

He couldn't believe that Kurt had actually come to his party. He thought he ruined any chance with Kurt. He had been clearly avoiding him all week. The boy was clearly still curious, though. After searching around for a little he was starting to believe that he had made it up that Kurt was even there at all. Seriously, the boy was nowhere to be found. Blaine began to relax.

He walked into the front room hoping to find someone else to talk to. Luck was not with him though, when he got in there the front door opened and his stomach dropped. None other than Diana Barrigan walked through the door. The glare that she threw at him when they locked eyes was strong enough to kill. She walked over and roughly grabbed a hold of Blaine's upper arm.

"Everyone out now!" Diana yelled, using her free arm to pull out her FBI badge from her pocket.

Her words and her badge seemed to spur everyone into immediate action. They all began rushing out of the house as fast as they could. Blaine thought he was going to die of humiliation. He would take walking handcuffed into the FBI with an escort over this any day. Diana pointed sharply toward the couch in indication that he should sit down. A few more stragglers were exiting, all glancing at Blaine sitting there dejectedly on the couch. Blaine inhaled sharply when he saw that Kurt was one of them. He hadn't made him up after all. He put his head down and glared at the floor in hopes that Kurt wouldn't notice him sitting there.

"Kurt Hummel, get on that couch right next to Blaine," Diana barked, confusing Blaine and causing his head to snap up.

How in the world did Diana know Kurt?

"Diana please don't tell my dad about this," Kurt pleading, walking over to sit down next to Blaine.

While he was doing so, Blaine noticed that he looked down at Blaine's feet, then looked up at him and then back down. Blaine looked down and realized that he was wearing pants that rode up enough to show his anklet when he sat down. Great. Just great. Now Kurt knew about the anklet.

"You know that I have to tell your dad about this, Kurt. He would be so pissed if he found out that I knew about this and didn't tell him," Diana replied, pulling her phone out of her pocket. "You two sit on this couch and wait. I have to call Peter."

Diana walked out of the room and Blaine sighed and leaned back on the couch.

"My dad is going to kill me," Kurt muttered, putting his head in his hands.

"Trust me, my Uncle Peter is going to be a nightmare about this," Blaine replied, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

They were both so lost in their thoughts about how much trouble they were going to be in.

"Okay, come on. You are both coming with me," Diana said, gesturing that they were to follow her outside to the car.

The car ride was the most awkward situation that he had been in since he could remember. It was definitely tense. His fears were realized fairly quickly when it was clear that they were headed to the country club, where Blaine knew the event was taking place. He was going to have to face his uncle right away. His last hope was that since they were going to be in public, his uncle would restrain himself a little bit. It's was a small hope, that he was sure wouldn't actually be realized.

Diana parked the car and didn't say a word as the two boys filed out. She just turned on her heel and walked inside, sure that the boys would follow her in. As soon as they walked in the room it was clear that Peter was expecting them. He was standing by the doorway with another man that Blaine quickly realized was Kurt's father. The other man grabbed Kurt's arm and dragged him off towards one corner of the room, clearly already lecturing him. Blaine was snapped out of his thoughts when his uncle grabbed his arm and started dragging him off to another corner.

"I can't believe that I trusted you to be home alone tonight and you pull this stunt," Peter began.

"You clearly didn't trust me all that much, because why else would Diana be there other than to check up on me," Blaine replied, losing his mind for a couple moments.

"Yes, Diana was there to check up on you. However, it doesn't help your case that it was sure as hell needed," Peter ranted. "You threw a party, Blaine. You have no room to be pissed that I didn't trust you fully to stay out of trouble."

"I didn't go outside of my radius," Blaine said, as if that really made a difference.

"You would be in jail if you did," Peter replied, clearly not in the mood to give him any praise for doing what he was legally required to do.

"Okay, I get it," Blaine said. "You have every right to be mad at me. Do we have to do it here though?"

Blaine had noticed that more and more people had started staring at the two of them in the corner. Not only was he seriously underdressed for this event, he was in ripped jeans and a Ramones tshirt with black converse. He was also way younger than everyone else in the room…well save for Kurt. It was clear to everyone in the room that Blaine was in trouble of some sort. Peter's tense posture just topped it off.

"Yes, I am going to do it right here," Peter replied, pissed that Blaine was trying to weasel his way out of this by making Peter himself seem like the one in the wrong. "You can sure as hell know that you aren't going to be without supervision for a while. Your ass is grounded, got it?"

"I'm already grounded!" Blaine yelled in reply, lifting up his left pant leg. "What the hell do you call this?"

"The luckiest damn deal you are ever going to get," Peter replied. "And if you don't want everyone to stare then you probably should stop yelling."

Blaine groaned and ran his hand through his hair once more.

"Okay, I get it. I'm grounded now," Blaine yielded.

"We will discuss the details later tonight," Peter said. "I have to get ready to give a speech. Come with me."

Peter led Blaine over to an empty table, already cleared of food from dinner. Peter pulled out one of the chairs and gestured for Blaine to sit. The chair was silver with several wooden cylindrical poles making up the back. Blaine sat down and jerked when he felt his uncle grab his right wrist. He instantly felt metal attached to his wrist and then the other side attached to the back of the chair.

"Uncle Peter, you can't be serious!" Blaine protested.

Peter glared at him in reply, turned, and walked off. Great, just great. Blaine sat there uncomfortably for several moments before he heard the chair next to him pulled out. He looked over and saw that Kurt was standing there with his dad.

"You sit here and stay with Blaine or so help me I will resort to Peter's method and handcuff you to this chair as well," Mr. Hummel said, even lifting up his jacket to show that he did in fact have handcuffs on him.

"That won't be necessary dad," Kurt replied. "I will stay here."

Mr. Hummel nodded and walked off leaving Kurt and Blaine sitting alone at the table.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to all of you that have either reviewed, favourited, or put it on story alert. You guys are all amazing! Here is the next chapter for you. **

**Chapter 5**

Blaine and Kurt sat there in silence for a couple moments. Blaine was shifting awkwardly in the chair, pondering the pros and cons of picking the cuffs. On the one hand, he would be much less embarrassed; but on the other hand, Peter would be even angrier than before.

"So are you going to tell me about the anklet?" Kurt asked directly, breaking the silence after a couple minutes. "Or am I just going to have to ask Peter? You should know he is a very close family friend, so I'm sure he will be more than willing to tell me the truth. It would also save you from having to dodge me in school."

"I wasn't…" Blaine tried to deny, but was quickly cut off by Kurt.

"Oh please, you avoided me like the plague in school," Kurt replied, rolling his eyes. "Now I'm not sure how long we are going to be sitting here, but I know for sure that neither of us are going anywhere anytime soon, so..."

"I got arrested for stealing a painting from the Met," Blaine muttered, cutting Kurt off in what he was sure was going to be a very lengthy sentence. "I got caught by the FBI where my uncle is the head of the White Collar Department—which, you apparently already know. He got me out on a deal. I have many rules that I have to follow, including this anklet. It's set to a two-mile radius from my aunt and uncle's house. It beeped when I was walking you home because we actually went past my radius."

"You could have told me instead of running off," Kurt said after a moment of processing this information. He had already figured out that the anklet was a GPS tracking anklet. He just didn't know what Blaine had been arrested for. He was admittedly a little surprised that it was something like stealing a painting from the Met. What kind of sixteen-year-old stole paintings from museums? He was used to stupid crimes, like the ones that Puckerman committed.

"And you still would've wanted to talk to me after I told you?" Blaine asked raising an eyebrow in disbelief, convinced that he knew the answer.

"You should have given me the chance," Kurt reasoned.

"I'm sorry, I was worried that I would scare you off and that you would tell the entire school," Blaine answered honestly with a shrug—well as much of a shrug as he could do with one hand cuffed to the back of the chair.

"For future reference," Kurt added. "I would never do that to you."

Blaine nodded in reply, but still wouldn't make eye-contact with Kurt. He was so embarrassed that this boy, that he really liked and seemed like such an amazing person, knew about what he had done. He had never been more disappointment by his own illicit activities than in that moment.

"So what does your dad do?" Blaine asked, changing the subject.

"He's the chief of police," Kurt replied, catching on to what Blaine was doing, but going along with it anyway. "He and Peter grew up together. They have been friends for a really long time. They went all through school together."

"So that's how you know Diana as well?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, Peter always invites us to holiday parties at his house where Diana and Jones are also always invited," Kurt explained. "Peter, Elizabeth, Diana and Jones are basically like family now—hence why Diana felt it her place to drag me here, unfortunately."

"So how mad was your dad?" Blaine asked with a laugh.

"He was pretty furious," Kurt replied with a sigh. "He says I'm grounded for the next two weeks. I lied and told him that I was going to Rachel's house tonight to watch musicals and eat popcorn. He was more upset that I lied about where I was then that I was at a party."

"Why did you want to come?" Blaine asked. "As you said, I freaked out and ran off and then avoided you all week. Didn't I put you off?"

"I was curious," Kurt replied with a shrug. "Not many people are nice to the 'gay kid' at school, especially the guys. You were one of the only guys at McKinley who talked to me like I was a real human being. You're also the first person to ever ask to walk me home. I just knew I had to find out more about the dapper young gentleman who asked to escort me home."

"Well I'm sad to disappoint you then," Blaine replied with a sad smile. "I mean first of all I would hardly call myself dapper. My wardrobe mostly consists of ripped jeans and concert t-shirts. I also appear to be more criminal then gentleman."

"You didn't disappoint, you're still fascinating," Kurt replied. "I don't care if you have a tracking device on your ankle. I just care about the way you treat other people. So far, so good. The clothes could use some Kurt Hummel influence, though."

Blaine laughed and rolled his eyes at that. He knew that he had some clothes that Kurt would have some fun with. He often had to dress like a dapper gentleman to pull some of his cons. He just chose not to wear those clothes on an everyday basis. At the start of high school, he actually wore bowties every day, but after a certain amount of teasing he cut the habit. He was still insecure about it, really. That made him realize something, though…

"You know I'm gay too…right?" Blaine asked, realizing that Kurt was saying that he was intrigued by Blaine because he was nice to the gay kid.

"You full on made out with another guy in front of me," Kurt replied with a laugh. "I kind of figured that you had to at least be bi."

"I kind of did that to get out of talking to you, but I am actually gay," Blaine said, shaking his head in shame. "It killed me to do so; I just gave that Sebastian the biggest ego boost of his life. I told him not to read too much into it, but I don't think he registered that part."

"So how upset was Peter at you?" Kurt asked, changing the subject because he really didn't want to talk about Sebastian any more than was necessary. He was super jealous that Sebastian got to kiss Blaine, even if it was only as a way to get out of talking on Blaine's part.

Blaine sighed and then pulled at his handcuffed wrist. "This should be proof enough of just how pissed he was."

"Yeah, that can't be comfortable," Kurt sympathized, and then grew really worried. "He won't make you quit Glee, will he? I will seriously get down on my knees and beg him not to. We seriously need you. I mean I also really want you in there with me, but we seriously need you as well."

"No, that's actually a part of my rules for my release. I have to join an approved extracurricular," Blaine explained.

"So that's why Rachel didn't scare you off," Kurt replied, having an 'ah-ha' moment.

"Not exactly," Blaine replied blushing. God, this conversation was seriously ending up being super embarrassing for him. All of his secrets seemed to suddenly be in danger of coming out. First, Kurt learned about his past and now he was about to have to admit that the only reason that he joined Glee Club was because he thought that Kurt was an angel the moment he saw him.

At that moment, Burt and Peter walked over and sat down at two of the chairs at the table. Blaine really didn't want to have to deal with his Uncle, but it meant that Kurt didn't get to ask the question that he was now dying to know the answer to. He figured that dealing with his Uncle was more preferable at the moment then embarrassing himself by showing how obsessed with Kurt he really was.

"So how are the two trouble makers doing over here?" Burt asked with a raised eyebrow.

Kurt and Blaine just looked at each other, neither one knowing how to properly answer that question.

"Can you please take these handcuffs off?" Blaine asked, giving Peter his best pouting face. "This is seriously embarrassing."

Peter nodded, and got up and released Blaine from the handcuffs. Blaine said a soft thanks, and pulled his hands into his lap.

"So were you both involved in the planning of this party?" Peter asked, sitting down in his chair once more. "I wasn't even aware that you knew Kurt. I'm sure by now you know that we are all very close family friends."

"Yes, Kurt told me that," Blaine answered. "And no, the party planning was all my doing. Kurt did nothing other than come."

"Where did you get the alcohol?" Peter asked, in full interrogation mode. "Who supplied it?"

"I got the alcohol," Blaine said with a sigh. "I picked the lock on the liquor cabinet. Some other people brought booze too, but Kurt didn't. I promise you the only thing he did was come to the party. He shouldn't be in trouble."

"He lied to me about going to Rachel's, he's still in trouble," Burt replied and Kurt sighed. He knew that no matter what Blaine said, he was still going to be grounded. "I'm Burt Hummel. It's nice to finally meet you. Peter has been talking about you a lot the past week. I wish the circumstances were better, but it's nice to finally put a face to the name."

Blaine nodded, having no idea how to respond to that. What a horrible first impression to make. Well, then again, he guessed his first impression was technically getting arrested and placed under Peter's supervision. Technically, this impression wasn't nearly as bad as the first one. Lots of teenagers threw parties and didn't tell their parents about them. He was just doing his duty as a rebellious teenager if you looked at it that way.

"Well," Burt clapped his hands together, "We are all going back to the Burkes and you two are going to clean that house from top to bottom until it's spotless."

"I will provide some hot chocolate for your efforts," Elizabeth said, coming up behind them.

Peter rolled his eyes. "He threw a party, El. His punishment is much deserved; don't act like I'm abusing him."

Twenty minutes later found Kurt and Blaine with massive black trash bags going around the house. Blaine hadn't realized how many broken beer bottles and red solo cups there actually were when they left. He groaned in annoyance when he found himself on his hands and knees scrubbing beer out of the carpet. Elizabeth, Peter and Burt all sat on the couch and chatted while slightly watching the boy's efforts. They weren't paying very much attention, but every once in a while Blaine could feel Peter's eyes glaring a hole in the back of his head. He got that he was pissed, he seriously didn't need to keep this up.

"I'm sorry that you got dragged into this," Blaine said to Kurt.

"It's okay, I'm glad you didn't have to do this all on your own. It would have taken you forever to complete," Kurt replied with a shrug, not really minding the work since he got to do it with Blaine. "So how are you liking Glee Club so far?"

"It's good. I think Mr. Schue needs a reminder that it's no longer the 80s, but other than that it's fine," Blaine replied.

"So you don't mind Rachel and her diva moments?" Kurt asked, stopping for a moment to stare incredulously at Blaine.

"Oh I think she needs to tone down her ego, but at least she does have the talent to back it up. It would be way worse if she was that sure of herself and she sounded like a dying bovine or something," Blaine reasoned with a laugh.

"True," Kurt allowed. "You are pretty talented yourself, you know that?"

"Thank you," Blaine said, and couldn't help the little bit of blush that reached his cheeks at Kurt's compliment. "That means a lot. I can't wait until I get to hear you sing."

"I'm a countertenor, I'm not everyone's cup of tea. I think I do have a pretty good voice, though," Kurt said with a smile.

"I'm sure you are more amazing than you give yourself credit for," Blaine replied. "I happen to think that countertenors are incredible. You have a rare voice and you should be very proud of that fact."

"So any chance that you are going to tell me why you joined Glee Club if it wasn't just at Rachel's insistence?" Kurt asked.

"Life is more fun with a little mystery," Blaine replied with a smirk.

"So I will take that as a resounding no," Kurt replied with a roll of his eyes.

"Maybe someday," Blaine said. "I'm just really hoping that I can continue to keep my tracking anklet a secret. It's going to be hell at school if that ever comes out."

"That I can attest to," Kurt said with a sigh. "I mean I'm not a criminal, but I know how hard they are on me."

"That's so wrong, I'm sorry that they are so hard on you," Blaine said honestly, touching Kurt lightly on the shoulder.

Kurt blushed at the touch.

The two finished the house within two hours' time. They were exhausted after doing so, and both silently agreed that the party was not actually worth all of this. The only thing that Blaine was grateful for was that it had gotten him closer to Kurt. Granted he still hadn't told Peter that he was gay, nor was he anywhere near ready for the whole school to know. He just knew that Kurt was incredible and that he wanted to get to know him better.

"Well you guys did a fairly good job," Burt said when the two boys came back into the living room. "It's time for us to go now, Kurt. You are going to get up bright and early with me tomorrow to go work in the shop."

Kurt groaned but nodded. He apologized to Peter and Elizabeth, said goodbye, and then followed his father out the front door. Then it was just Blaine, Elizabeth and Peter in the room with a very awkward silence. Blaine wished he was anywhere else in the world.

"You might as well sit down, sweetie," El said, gesturing to the love seat. "I'm sure you know how much Peter loves to lecture."

Blaine took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, and then did as he was asked.

"I'm sorry, I just thought that it would help everyone at school get to know me," Blaine muttered, hoping that getting the first word in would help.

"This was for popularity?" Peter asked, his tone indicating his annoyance and frustration.

"No, this was more to be a buffer," Blaine reluctantly explained. "Just for when the inevitable moment happens when the entire school finds out that I have an anklet."

"Blaine, you understand that these are the consequences that come with stealing artwork, do you not?" Peter asked.

"Yes, Uncle Peter! I understand that I'm a horrible person and you think that I deserve to be humiliated and ridiculed in public for my actions!" Blaine yelled, standing up in his frustration. "But don't you remember what it's like to be in high school?"

"Now you wait just one moment…" Peter yelled out, standing up as well. "I remember exactly what is was like to be in high school, but I didn't go out and steal million dollar paintings. The choices that you choose to act upon have consequences."

"So I should have no friends all because I made one mistake?" Blaine yelled, stamping his foot like a little kid.

"Boys!" Elizabeth yelled out, causing both Blaine and Peter to look at her and sit immediately down when they caught her glare. "Now Peter, you need to have a little bit more sympathy when it comes to Blaine. Yes, you are an FBI agent and it is your job to make sure that he gets the repercussions of his actions. However, you are now also a father figure in his life and you need to learn how to strike a balance on both. Now Blaine, just because you are upset about having to wear an anklet doesn't mean that it justifies throwing a party without our permission and stealing from our liquor cabinet. Is this all understood?"

Blaine and Peter both looked like they were slapped. They were both quick to respond, "Yes, ma'am."

"Now Blaine, you let us know if you have any problem with other students when it comes out that you are wearing an anklet," Elizabeth said. "I promise that we will be sympathetic and we will see what we can do. Peter, let Blaine know his punishment. We all seriously need to go to bed."

Peter nodded his agreement.

"Blaine you are grounded for the next two weeks." Peter explained. "You will have some extra chores around the house and you will be picked up and dropped off from school every day. The only places you will be going for the next two weeks are this house, school and my office."

Blaine groaned. Great. This was so much worse than his two-mile radius. He was now virtually on house arrest.

"Tomorrow morning you are going to be in charge of raking all of the leaves in the backyard," Peter said.

After explaining all of this Peter got up and sat down next to Blaine on the love seat.

"Elizabeth is right, though. If you actually do have problem at school, make sure that you let us know," Peter said softly, making sure that Blaine understood how serious he was. "I know that I can be unsympathetic, sometimes it's just that I don't realize I'm not turning off my FBI side. If you have any problems you can come to either one of us, though."

Blaine nodded, not really wanting to talk about this right now. He was not sure how to deal with Peter being like this. He always knew that Peter cared, but it was weird to hear such a direct statement form the man who was usually a stoic FBI agent most of the time.

"Now let's all get to bed," Elizabeth said, gesturing toward the stairs.


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you so much again to anyone that has reviewed, favourited, or put this story on story alert. It means so much to me. In reply to the review, I can definitely say that the Claringtons will be making an appearance in the story in the future. I also love some Blaine angst. Well here is the next chapter, hope you all enjoy! It is certainly longer than any of the previous ones. **

**Chapter 6 **

True to his word, Peter woke Blaine up bright and early Saturday morning and got him outside raking the leaves. The backyard was a decent size, and it meant that Blaine would be working for several hours at the task. It was a terrible prospect for someone who was exhausted from having been up so late the night before. Blaine was just happy that he wasn't suffering a hangover, because that would have been a million times worse.

Cooper showed up about a half hour after Blaine began working. He came bearing coffee and croissants, knowing that the Burkes had a rough night. He couldn't believe it when he got a text from Peter the night before. How could Blaine have been stupid enough to think that he could get away with throwing a party? Did he seriously forget that their uncle was an FBI agent who was nothing if not thorough? Cooper could have easily predicted that Peter would send someone to check on Blaine!

"Good morning," Cooper said, quite chipper for only eight in the morning on a Saturday. "How are things in the Burke household this morning?"

"Even better now that you have brought coffee," Elizabeth answered, immediately taking one of the Starbucks cups from Cooper. She was definitely feeling the effects of not getting enough sleep. She didn't know if Peter realized that Blaine's punishment wasn't just punishing the teenager, but them as well.

"I figured you guys could use a pick me up," Cooper laughed at his aunt and uncle's tired faces. They looked like they could fall off their chairs at any given moment.

"That's an understatement," Peter grumbled, picking up the other Starbucks cup and taking a sip of the scalding hot, yet soothing, liquid.

"So the little squirt threw a party last night?" Cooper asked, looking around the house for evidence. "As his older brother I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It couldn't have been that great of a party if the house is still this spotless."

"Oh no, the house was a wreck," Peter replied, cradling the coffee cup in his hands like a lifeline. "We just made Blaine and Kurt clean it into the early hours of the morning."

"Kurt?" Cooper asked, raising an eyebrow. He pulled up a seat next to his aunt and uncle, grabbing his own cup of coffee.

"A family friend's son who was also at the party," Elizabeth explained. "They met through school and are in Glee Club together. Kurt lied to his father Burt about what he was doing last night, so Burt thought it was fair to have Kurt help clean the house as well."

Cooper nodded, wondering if there was more to the Kurt story than just being a family friend's son. Blaine was a little evasive in the car the other day regarding a boy that he had met at school. He couldn't help but wonder if it was this Kurt boy.

"So, croissants?" Cooper asked, lifting up the bag of croissants that he had gotten from his favorite bakery that morning.

They all settled around the kitchen island, eating croissants, drinking their coffee, and chatting about anything and everything. Occasionally, they would glance outside to check on Blaine. A couple times, they got a good laugh in because they would find Blaine dancing and singing along to his Ipod. Finally after a couple hours' time, Blaine finished with the backyard and made his way back inside. He was tired and hungry. He walked in to the surprise of his older brother sitting in the kitchen.

"I brought food," Cooper said pointing to the bag on the counter. "I also brought coffee, but you might want to toss that in the microwave."

Blaine quickly jumped on that, not wanting Peter to remember that he thought Blaine was too young for coffee—a ridiculous notion in Blaine's opinion.

"What are you doing here Coop?" Blaine finally asked after taking a long drink of his coffee and taking a bite out of the pastry.

"I heard my little brother was being quite the troublemaker again," Cooper said, raising an eyebrow at Blaine. "I had to come see things for myself."

Blaine rolled his eyes and sat down at the kitchen island next to his Aunt Elizabeth.

"So what other big adventures do you have for Blaine today?" Cooper asked, enjoying this far too much in Blaine's opinion.

"Well we actually have some more business to attend to," Peter replied, checking his cell phone. "I have Jones and Diana coming over and we have some more questions for you to answer, Blaine."

"Great," Blaine replied sarcastically.

True to his word, a couple hours later Diana and Jones arrived ready to question Blaine. They all sat down around the kitchen table with a tape recorder, a notebook, and a pen. Blaine was seriously over this whole interrogation thing. Wasn't it enough to do this twice a week? Now they were doing it on a Saturday too?

"Okay, where did we leave off?" Peter asked himself, looking through their old notes from their interviews on Tuesday and Thursday. "Ah yes, so Hunter Clarington."

It took everything that he had for Blaine not to groan aloud. He was fine with talking about Mr. Clarington. That really didn't bother him. The man had him and Hunter trained to do things that he really shouldn't have. Hunter on the other hand was one of his good friends. He was there for Blaine when no one else at school was. Sure, Hunter was into some illegal things…but technically so was Blaine.

"What about Hunter?" Blaine asked, running his hand through his hair. "I'm not going to nark on my best friend, Uncle Peter."

"You are when it's a part of your deal," Peter replied.

"You can't seriously expect me to tell you incriminating evidence on the only person who actually made the last couple of years bearable," Blaine argued.

"I don't want to put Hunter in jail, I just want to put Walter in jail," Peter reasoned. "The more you tell me about the whole situation, the better able I am to ensure that happens."

Blaine sighed and nodded, knowing that Peter wouldn't lie to him. If that's what he claimed, then that would be what would happen.

"You said that Hunter had different specialties than you, what are those certain specialties?" Peter asked, looking at Blaine expectantly.

Blaine pondered how to word it for a moment.

"Well let's just say that he would be the type to make his deals under the high school football bleachers," Blaine carefully worded.

"So you're saying that he deals drugs?" Diana asked.

"That's the rumor," Blaine replied, hoping that would be a good enough answer.

"You know more than it being a rumor, don't you?" Jones asked, annoyed with Blaine trying to dodge the questions.

"Of course I know it being more than a rumor," Blaine replied with a sigh. "I lived with him. Yes, Hunter is Mr. Clarington's drug dealer."

"And you had no part in that side of it?" Peter asked.

"No, Uncle Peter," Blaine replied. "As I told you, I worked with art. Mr. Clarington was over the moon when he found out that I was good at art. It opened new possibilities for him, meaning that he could branch out from what he had me do before."

"And what did he have you doing before?" Jones asked.

"He just had me picking pockets," Blaine answered.

"Just?" Peter asked, practically choking on the word.

"Okay, he had me picking pockets," Blaine said, rolling his eyes.

"How long was it before he figured out that you were particularly good at art?" Diana asked.

"Only a couple weeks," Blaine replied. "He saw me doodling in one of my notebooks when I was supposed to be doing homework and realized how good I was at it. He was mad that I was procrastinating, but impressed with my skills. Look, I know that what he did was wrong. I know that he should have never asked either one of us to do what we were doing, but he was still a good parent. He had us do our homework every night, set a curfew for us and such. He was pretty strict other than when he had me pulling cons."

"Blaine, it really doesn't matter how good of a parent he was," Peter reasoned. "He stopped being a good parent the moment that he asked you two to commit crimes for him."

"I know, I know," Blaine replied with a sigh. "What else do you want to know?"

"How many forgeries did he have you make?" Diana asked, pulling it from the list of questions they had written in the notebook.

"I honestly couldn't even tell you," Blaine replied. "It was a good number."

The next half hour was spent with Blaine trying to remember all of the paintings that he forged or stole. Blaine wanted to seriously be anywhere else in the world than at that kitchen table. Peter was relentless.

Blaine actually found himself relieved to go to school on Monday. The rest of the interrogation was grueling, as well as the rest of the weekend. His uncle hardly left him alone for two seconds. He was taking the whole grounding thing to the extreme. Not only did he not leave the house for the rest of the weekend, he was stuck doing chores or his homework.

There were some whispers when he got to school Monday morning, but even that was better than his grounding. People seemed to be slightly impressed that Blaine threw a big enough party to get busted like it had. It seemed to give him a little bit of boost of popularity, which was odd. Everyone seemed to know his name, which he guessed was a good thing.

The best part of the day was French class where he got to sit next to Kurt. The assignment that class had them chatting away with each other the whole class. Both Blaine and Kurt were clearly light years ahead of the rest of the class in the French language, even with French being Blaine's toughest subject—Blaine was still practically fluent. The teacher never even bothered them to make sure that they were talking about what was asked in the assignment, leaving Kurt and Blaine to discuss everything from fashion to their predictions for that evening's episode of The Bachelor.

Nothing was going to get him down this day…until he showed up to his Health/Gym class. For the past week, they had been working on the Health portion. That meant that they didn't change into the mandatory gym uniform. Blaine was all prepared for another Health class, but got a surprise when the gym teacher handed him blue shorts and a blue tshirt with the schools logo on both pieces.

"What's this?" Blaine asked. "I thought this was Health class."

"We switch on and off every week. This week is the gym portion," Mr. Tracy explained, pointing to the boy's locker room. "Go change, today we are playing kickball."

Blaine reluctantly headed to where Mr. Tracy pointed. It took Blaine a moment to realize what all of this meant. There was no way in the world that he would be able to hide his tracking anklet in shorts. As soon as he changed, it would be there for the entire school to see…well at least the entirety of his gym class. He knew it wouldn't take long to travel from his gym class to the entire school.

He had to think of something, and he had to think of something fast. The only thing that he could think of was to fake sick. It had to be something that would get him to the nurse's office and allow him to lay down for an hour. It couldn't be something serious enough that they had to call Peter or El. Knowing Peter, he would figure out what Blaine was doing in a heartbeat. It also wouldn't surprise him if Peter had it mandatory that any time Blaine went to the nurse Peter got contacted by the school…so there went that option. Damn overzealous FBI agent.

Then it hit him…there was no way in the world to get out of this gym class permanently. Even if he faked sick and got out of it today, there was no way that he could continue to do so for the rest of the term. He was just going to have to suck it up. He waited until almost everyone had gotten changed and then quickly changed himself. He glared down at where the anklet sat, painfully contrasting with his white sock. He was grateful that the sock was able to fit under the tracker, though. It was the only thing keeping him from a very chafed leg.

Blaine took a deep breath, trying to gather every ounce of courage that he possessed. It wasn't easy, but he steeled himself and walked out. The stares happened almost immediately, and the whispers came not long after. Everyone pretty much figured out what the device on his leg was, they just didn't know what he was wearing it for. The rest of gym class he heard snippets of people's whispers. Some people were so far off that it was absurd—did they really think that if he murdered someone they would allow him out free on an anklet? Honestly people!

Other people he heard talk about the party on Friday night. They knew that a woman from the FBI had busted it, so they were theorizing that it had something to do with that. They were at least a lot closer than the murder theorists were.

Blaine was somewhat surprised that no one outright asked him why he was wearing it. It seemed that either they were too afraid to ask him or thought he wouldn't answer. Blaine also speculated that they just liked to make up their own stories. They were probably a lot more entertaining and juicy than the real one.

When Mr. Tracy blew his whistle signaling that gym class was over Blaine sighed in relief.

"Mr. Anderson," Mr. Tracy said as everyone filed toward the locker room. "May I talk with you for a moment?"

Blaine nodded and walked over to his gym teacher.

"What's with the blinking jewelry?" Mr. Tracy asked, nodding in the direction of Blaine's left leg.

"Er—its' um…it's a tracking anklet," Blaine replied awkwardly. He didn't really want to give too many details.

"Is there anything that I need to know?" Mr. Tracy asked. "Like is there any activities that you aren't allowed to do, like swimming?"

Blaine was thrown back a little by the question; it wasn't what he was expecting. "No, it's waterproof."

"Okay, then go ahead and get changed," Mr. Tracy said, pointing to the locker room and walking back toward his office.

Blaine sighed in relief and walked to the locker rooms. As soon as he walked in, he was caught by surprise when he was slammed into one of the lockers.

"We don't want criminals at this school," the jock said, walking off and laughing with his friends who were all already dressed.

Blaine ignored it as best as he could, composed himself and then quickly got dressed. He was a couple minutes late getting out of the locker room and practically sprinted to his locker so that he would be able to make it to Glee on time. He was hoping there wasn't enough time for the news to spread before Glee Club, but that hope was dashed the moment he saw Kurt's face as he walked up to Blaine's locker.

"So I guess the news is out," Kurt said with a sigh, truly looking sympathetic. "How did anyone find out?"

"Gym uniform," Blaine answered with a groan.

Kurt nodded his understanding, grabbed ahold of Blaine's hand, and gave it a squeeze. Blaine felt a million times better with Kurt's hand holding his. He rode this little high all the way to Glee Club, Kurt never letting go of his hand. They ended up being the last ones there, and started their way up the stairs to the top row to sit with Mercedes. Blaine felt everyone's eyes on him. He knew they were looking to see if they could spot the tracker on his leg.

"Is it true you robbed a bank?" Puck asked, clearly not ashamed to confront Blaine about it.

"Wait, I heard that he burned down someone's barn," Quinn added, looking confused.

"Alexis told me that he stole a car," Mercedes piped in, looking confident in her information.

"Well I heard from my sources that…" Rachel began, but was quickly interrupted.

"Do you even really have a tracker on your leg?" Artie asked. "I mean with the crazy rumors in this school, I don't even know anymore."

Kurt put his hand on Blaine's shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

"Guys, what's going on here?" Mr. Schuester asked in confusion from his spot in the front of the room. He clearly wasn't privy to the news yet.

"Rumor is that hobbit here is a criminal and has the GPS anklet to prove it," Santana said jovially from her spot in the second row.

"I'm sure that's not…" Mr. Schuester began but was cut off by Blaine.

"It's true," Blaine admitted with a sigh. He leaned down and pulled up his left pant leg, revealing the tracker underneath.

There were a couple gasps and a few jaws dropped when he revealed it. Kurt just reached out and grabbed Blaine's hand in a show of support. Blaine didn't know if he could ever get used to holding Kurt's hand. It made his heart skip a beat again.

"Dude, you are more badass than I am!" Puck said in awe. "So you did rob a bank?"

"No, I didn't rob a bank," Blaine said, rolling his eyes.

"Then what did you do?" Santana asked with a raised eyebrow, as if she didn't believe it.

"I stole a painting from the Met and allegedly stole and forged some other paintings," Blaine mumbled, staring at the floor in front of him.

"Oh I take back that badass comment then," Puck replied. "What kind of crime is that? I thought you did something way more badass like robbing a bank."

"Trust me, there is nothing badass about wearing an anklet anyway," Blaine replied, rolling his eyes once more. Didn't he understand that you lost your street cred the moment you got caught? The best criminals were the ones who didn't get caught. "You try living with my uncle's rules for a couple days and I guarantee you would be changing your tune."

"You live with your uncle?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"Yes, he is actually the FBI agent that caught me," Blaine said and then sighed. "It's a really long story and I would rather not get into it. The important thing here is that yes, I wear a tracking anklet. Can't we all just forget about it and move on?"

"Kurt knew about this, didn't he?" Finn asked, shocking everyone in the room because he was typically someone that was not observant. "I heard that he was at your party the other night and got in big trouble. Kurt, why are you still hanging out with him if he is such a bad influence?"

"Okay, first of all you are way out of line here," Kurt said, his bitch face out and in full force. "Blaine had nothing to do with my being at the party the other night. He didn't even know that I was going to be there until I showed up. That was all my choosing. Now don't play like a saint and pretend like you haven't done anything behind your mom's or my dad's back before. If they were both gone for a night you wouldn't think twice about throwing a party and you know it."

"That's not…" Finn began, but Mr. Schuester stepped in.

"Okay, I think this is enough of this particular conversation," Mr. Schuester said. "Let's get started on the Glee assignment for this week. I am going to randomly pair you into twos to work on a duet assignment. You will all perform this Wednesday or Friday. On Friday the winner will be chosen and that pair will be performing their duet at Sectionals."

Blaine almost laughed out loud at Rachel's reaction to his statement. She put her game face on and her claws out. It was almost terrifying, but Blaine didn't really want the solo that badly. He was just mourning that he surely wouldn't get paired with Kurt. He really wanted to hear how his voice would sound with Kurt.

"Blaine Anderson, you are paired with Quinn Fabray," Mr. Schuester said, pulling Blaine out of his thoughts. "You two are going to perform on Wednesday."

He went on to read the rest of the names, and Blaine mourned the fact that Kurt was paired up with Tina. He was sure the two of them would pull off something good, but it wouldn't be the magic that he knew he could sing with Kurt.

"Hey, so when do you want to meet?" Quinn asked coming over to Blaine. "I mean we don't have much time left in this Glee meeting and we perform on Wednesday. You are more than welcome to come over to my house to practice."

Blaine was about to accept her offer, but then he realized something important—he was grounded. Like super, virtually house arrest, grounded. He would have to call Elizabeth and see if it was okay if Quinn came over after school today. He was going to be in the city after school tomorrow, so today was really the only available time.

"I'm actually grounded for that party that I sort of threw on Friday night without any permission," Blaine admitted with a sigh. "Is there any way that you could come over to my place right after school today? I just have to go call my aunt and make sure that it's okay with her."

Quinn nodded and gestured for him to go call.

"Blaine, what's wrong?" Elizabeth asked when she picked up the phone.

"So I have this assignment for Glee where we have to sing a duet with another person. I'm paired with this girl Quinn and we have to perform it on Wednesday. Is it okay if she comes over after school today so that we can rehearse?"

"Of course, sweetie," Elizabeth replied. "I will pick the both of you up right after your Glee Club is over."

"Can't we walk to the house?" Blaine pleaded. It was super embarrassing to have to have his aunt pick him up.

"I think you know the answer to that one, Blaine," Elizabeth replied. "You know I think Peter can forget he is an FBI agent sometimes, but that doesn't mean that I don't agree with his punishments and that I'm not going to enforce them."

Blaine sighed and mumbled, "Just thought I would ask."

They said their goodbyes and then Blaine headed back over to Quinn.

"My aunt is okay with it," Blaine said. "She is going to pick us up right after Glee."

"I thought you usually walked home," Quinn said, confused.

"Yeah, I am no longer being trusted to even do that," Blaine explained rolling his eyes.

"You weren't kidding when you said that your uncle was strict, were you?" Quinn asked sympathetically.

"Unfortunately not," Blaine replied with a groan.

The rest of the Glee club meeting they spent discussing what song they wanted to sing. They eventually agreed on singing "Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum. Blaine admired the romantic aspects of the song and Quinn was always down to sing some country music. Glee club ended soon after they decided their song choice. The two headed out front, and sure enough Elizabeth was sitting there in her car waiting for them.

"Hi you must be Quinn," Elizabeth said when they got into the car. "I'm Blaine's Aunt Elizabeth."

"It's nice to meet you," Quinn replied.

"So you guys are working on a song together?" Elizabeth asked, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Yes, we are going to do a song by Lady Antebellum," Blaine replied.

"Well I am excited to hear the two of you practice," Elizabeth said. "I have never actually heard Blaine sing."

"His audition of Teenage Dream was one of the best that we've had in a while," Quinn said with a smile.

"You auditioned with a Katy Perry song?" Elizabeth asked, surprised by the song choice. "You didn't say that you did that."

"Yeah…it just never really came up," Blaine said with a shrug. Peter was too worried about him joining an extracurricular; he didn't really care how he did it.

Elizabeth pulled into the driveway and turned the car off.

"Well you two can get to work in the sitting room," Elizabeth said as they walked inside. "I will bring a snack to you guys in a little bit. I will also make sure that when Peter gets home he doesn't disturb the two of you."

Blaine and Quinn nodded their thanks and then walked to the sitting room in the front of the house. As soon as they were there Quinn started laughing.

"What?" Blaine asked confused.

"Your aunt thinks the two of us are dating or something," Quinn said with a laugh.

"What…" Blaine stuttered out.

"Don't worry," Quinn replied. "I see the way that you look at Kurt. I know that I don't stand a chance in the world against that look."

"There is no look," Blaine denied.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that," Quinn replied and rolled her eyes.

"I mean yeah, sure I'm gay," Blaine admitted. "But Kurt and I, we're just friends."

"For now," Quinn replied, sounding so sure of her statement that Blaine couldn't help but believe her for a couple moments. "You looked like Christmas came early when he held your hand earlier."

"Let's get to work," Blaine said, changing the subject and not caring just how obvious it was that he was doing so.

The two worked for a while on their song until they finally thought they nailed it. By that time Peter had even made it home. Quinn met Peter briefly on her way out of the house.

"So is she the girl that you were walking home the other day?" Peter asked after she left.

"I have homework to do," Blaine said, ignoring his uncle's question.

He turned on his heel and headed up to his room to do his homework. He was called down about an hour later for dinner, and found that Cooper had come to join them. The dinner consisted of Cooper, Peter, and Elizabeth telling funny stories about their coworkers. Blaine was just happy that they weren't talking about him and Quinn…but of course he thought that too soon.

"So I think your brother has a little crush," Peter said as everyone was finishing up dinner.

"Oh really, on who?" Cooper asked intrigued, wondering if he was going to find out about this boy that had Blaine blushing and avoiding the subject.

"Well the other day he set off his tracker walking someone home and I think I just met her tonight," Peter said. "Her name is Quinn. She is certainly very pretty."

"Quinn?" Cooper asked, trying to catch Blaine's eye.

Blaine was avoiding all eye contact with his older brother, though. He really didn't want to get into it right now.

"Of course Blaine is being silent about it," Peter said. "He won't let El and I have our fun."

Cooper laughed and played along with it, much to Blaine's relief. That relief wasn't very long lasting though, because as soon as the table was cleared Cooper asked to go on a quick walk with Blaine. Peter approved it, claiming he was sure Blaine was sick of the house already and that he should be allowed a little reprieve.

"So you haven't told them?" Cooper asked once the two of them started walking.

"Told them what?" Blaine feigned confusion.

"The fact that you're gay," Cooper replied, not willing to skirt around the subject.

"It hasn't come up," Blaine shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"You know you can tell them, right?" Cooper asked.

"Yeah, because that worked out real well with mom," Blaine replied sarcastically.

"They aren't mom," Cooper reasoned. "I'm sure they are going to take it much better than she did."

"You can't know that," Blaine replied, fear evident in his voice. "Please don't tell them Cooper. I just want to test out the waters a little bit more. If things go wrong and they decide they don't want me anymore than I'm going to jail. The stakes are pretty high."

"They aren't going to decide they don't want you," Cooper reasoned. "And Peter wouldn't just let you go to jail, not after everything that he is doing to keep you out of it."

"Yeah, and mom was going to still accept and love her youngest son," Blaine mocked. "That went real well didn't it?"

"Okay, okay. I won't tell them. I still think you should," Cooper said. "I'm going to let you do that at your own pace though."

"Thank you," Blaine replied, truly thankful from the bottom of his heart. He just didn't know that he could handle rejection again. Not that soon. Not with that big of stakes.

"So is there a guy?" Cooper asked.

"Maybe," Blaine replied, but the smile on his face gave him away.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks again to anyone who has reviewed, favourited, or put this on story alert. Here is the next chapter for you! **

**Chapter 7**

"So how do you think school is going to be today?" Peter asked on their way to McKinley High School the next morning.

The night before, Blaine had reluctantly informed him, Elizabeth, and Cooper that news had gotten out about him wearing a tracking anklet. Blaine had avoided telling the story of the jock pushing him into the locker, though. He didn't want his Uncle to think that he couldn't handle himself.

"I'll be fine," Blaine muttered in reply with a shrug. He started picking at the frayed edge of his black zip up hoodie. He was wearing his typical uniform of a black faded band t-shirt, black jeans and black converse. He added the hoodie because it was really starting to feel like November outside.

"Remember you can come to me if…" Peter began, but Blaine cut him off.

"If anyone gives me trouble," Blaine finished the sentence for him. "Yeah, I remember."

Blaine sighed and got out of the car, walking to the school—or his doom. There was no way that the entire school didn't know about his anklet by now. If news had reached as many people as it had in the ten minutes between gym class and Glee club, then it would have definitely reached the entire school overnight. As soon as Blaine walked in, he saw everyone walking around with the school newspaper. There were a couple people handing it out. Blaine grabbed a copy on his way to his locker. He really shouldn't have been surprised. He should've seen it coming. Front and center on the page was his mug shot. Great.

He tried to avoid looking at it as much as possible. He really hated reminders of that night. Instead, he focused on the article with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

_**Blaine Anderson: McKinley's own Thief**_

_ 8__th__ period gym class was provided with some juicy information—we have a felon in our midst. McKinley's newest student Blaine Anderson comes with a fairly permanent attachment: a GPS tracking anklet. Many rumors are swirling around school as to what Anderson did, but most of them fall far from the truth. Anderson was arrested for stealing a painting from the Met. He was also suspected of stealing and forging several other paintings. What this means is that all of you are in danger. Be careful, this thief could strike again with any of your belongings. Watch out! _

Blaine crumbled up his paper and frustratingly threw it in the nearest garbage can. He should have known that news would get out. Most people wouldn't think to look it up, but his arrest was public record. Anyone smart enough could go online and find out the information that they wanted…in this case it seemed to be Jacob Ben Israel.

"I'm sorry," a familiar voice, which Blaine immediately recognized at Kurt's, came from right behind him. "I wish there was something I could do for you."

"I'll be fine," Blaine said with a sigh. In that moment with Kurt, he really felt that he was going to be fine. Kurt was sort of magical in that way. "It's only high school, right?"

"That's the spirit," Kurt replied with a smile, grabbing Blaine's hand and squeezing it. "I will see you in French class."

"See you then," Blaine replied with a sad smile.

Blaine walked to his homeroom classroom, trying to ignore all of the whispers that he was hearing about himself. The stares he could somewhat do, but the whispers were annoying the hell out of him. The students would have to be stupid if they thought that he couldn't hear them. Blaine was under the conclusion that they didn't care.

Blaine was the first one in his homeroom classroom. The teacher stared at him when he walked in, and Blaine realized that even the faculty knew what he had done. Great. He quickly snagged a seat in the back of the room and stared at his desk to avoid the looks of everyone that was coming into the room.

"Hey Blaine," a soft voice said, causing him to look up.

Standing before him was Tina dressed in her gothic best.

"Hi, Tina," Blaine replied with a smile and gestured to the seat next to him.

"I'm sorry about the paper," Tina said as she sat down. "That's just Jacob Ben Israel. He writes horrible stories about the Glee Club all the time."

"Yeah, but unfortunately this isn't just a story, it's the truth," Blaine replied with a sigh. "It's not slander if it's the truth."

"He shouldn't have said that we were all in danger though," Tina replied softly. "I mean, I'm not afraid that you're going to steal something from me. Anyone who even remotely knew you wouldn't be."

"Thanks, Tina," Blaine replied with a smile.

The bell rang at that moment, ending their conversation. Blaine only half-listened to the school announcements. He was too busy brooding. He sighed in relief when the bell rang signaling the end of homeroom. That meant that he could go to French class and talk with Kurt. Kurt was very quickly becoming the highlight of Blaine's day. Even when everything was going wrong, Blaine felt comfortable and safe with Kurt.

Their assignment in that French class was to talk to a partner about their lives in French. Blaine and Kurt started chatting away, the only ones in their class that weren't consulting their text books every two seconds.

"So you live with your dad and your step-mom?" Blaine asked. "What happened to your mother, if you don't mind my asking?"

"My mom died when I was little," Kurt replied sadly. "She was killed in a car accident."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Blaine replied sincerely. "Do you remember her at all?"

"A little bit," Kurt answered. "I'm not sure how much I actually remember and how much I only think I remember because I hear stories and see pictures. She was beautiful and she always smelled slightly of lavender and vanilla. I still have her old perfume bottle and I still smell it if I'm feeling particularly sad."

"I'm sure she must have been beautiful to have you as a son," Blaine replied, not even realizing how flirtatious that line was. He thought it was true, though.

"Thanks," Kurt said blushing. "What about your parents? I know you live with your aunt and your uncle."

"My dad died of cancer when I was little," Blaine replied. "My mother and I never really got along, but it got worse after I came out. She gave up on me after I got arrested, although I think she gave up long before that to be honest. I was living with my friend and his dad for majority of the time the past couple years. I hate to admit it, but I really am very lucky that my uncle and aunt took me in."

"Peter really is a great man," Kurt replied. "I grew up idolizing him. He may not be the most openly affectionate person all the time, but he is really strongly grounded in his morals."

"Stubbornly so, yes," Blaine replied with a smile.

"Stop flirting, it's disgusting," came a voice speaking in English behind them, effectively killing the moment that the two of them were having.

They turned around and found that it was Justin Muller from the Football Team. He was the one who slammed Blaine into the locker in gym class the day before.

"How in the hell would you know if we were flirting?" Kurt asked, continuing to speak in French. "You don't know a word that I'm saying to you."

"I don't know what you just said to me," Justin ironically stated, anger clear on his face. "But I'm sure I wouldn't like it!"

"Of course you wouldn't," Blaine replied in French as well.

"Stop it with the French!" Justin yelled in reply.

"Mr. Muller," the teacher said walking up at that moment. "We speak in French or we do not speak at all."

"Then he won't be speaking at all," Blaine whispered to Kurt who chuckled.

"Detention Mr. Anderson," the teacher said, clearly having overheard what he said.

Blaine groaned and slammed his head against the desk.

"Now come on," Kurt said in Blaine's defense. "I don't think that what he just said warranted detention! Justin was over here being rude to us and you don't give him anything?"

"Detention Mr. Hummel," the teacher said, turning and walking away.

"Well clearly she's heard the news," Blaine mumbled.

"What?" Kurt asked.

"She knows about what I've done," Blaine replied. "My homeroom teacher looked as if she was petrified that I was going to steal her wallet."

Kurt looked like he wanted to argue with that for a moment, but then thought better of it.

"I would argue against that, but I personally know several homophobic teachers in this school so I can't argue that they are above anything like this," Kurt replied with a sigh.

"Merde!" Blaine exclaimed, confusing Kurt and causing a couple of the students sitting near him to jump. "It's Tuesday!"

"Well yes…it does typically come after Monday and before Wednesday you know…" Kurt replied, looking at Blaine as if he had two heads.

"Tuesday is one of the days that I go into the city and help my uncle out after work," Blaine groaned putting his head in his hands. "He is going to be so pissed that I got detention."

"Well look at it this way, how much more trouble can you be in?" Kurt joked with a small smile. "I'm just hoping that my dad is working a little late today and won't have to know that I got detention."

"Unfortunately I don't have that option," Blaine replied with a groan. "I have to call Cooper after this."

"Cooper?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, Cooper is my older brother. I forgot that you didn't know about him," Blaine replied. "He works in the city, but mostly works from home. He picks me up and drives me to the FBI office on Tuesdays and Thursdays."

"Are you two really close?" Kurt asked.

"We haven't been for the last couple years," Blaine replied. "It wasn't entirely his fault, my mother has a habit of chasing a lot of people away—including my brother."

"Well it's good that you are getting to know each other now then," Kurt replied. "That is an upside in all this."

"That and the fact that I got away from my mother," Blaine added make Kurt even more curious about Blaine's mother.

The bell finally rang signaling the end of class. The two parted ways and Blaine headed to Chemistry where he spent half the period working on a lab assignment and half the period listening to Rachel blab on and on about the song she was singing for duets and how it would be an absolute travesty if she didn't win. Blaine wanted to ask if she remembered that a duet was about two people, not one. He didn't really want to get into it though, so he just let her be.

At lunchtime, Blaine snuck into the boy's bathroom so that he could call Cooper.

"Hey, little brother," Cooper said when he answered the phone. "What's going on? Aren't you in school?"

"Yeah," Blaine replied. "It's lunch period. Listen, I have a favor to ask of you."

"I'm not going to cover for you if you are skipping school, if that's what you are asking," Cooper replied, sounding very suspicious.

"I'm not skipping school," Blaine replied, annoyed. "I could never even get away with skipping school. I'm fairly certain that Peter watches my tracking data like a hawk."

"What do you need then?" Cooper asked, immensely relieved.

"I sort of, kind of, may have happened to get detention," Blaine replied.

"Sort of, kind of?" Cooper repeated, his skepticism clear even over the phone.

"Okay, I got detention," Blaine replied annoyed. "I got it for a totally unfair reason. The teacher definitely has it out for me. Kurt unfortunately got dragged into along with me."

"Kurt?" Cooper repeated the name and Blaine was pretty sure that he could almost hear his smirk through the phone. "Would this be the boy that has you blushing lately? I heard he was at the party you threw the other night."

"What…that has nothing to do with anything that we are talking about right now," Blaine stuttered out in reply.

"Well from what I've gathered you have detention with this oh so mysterious Kurt," Cooper stated. "I would say he has a lot to do with the conversation at hand."

"No, the conversation at hand is if you are willing to be the best brother ever and cover for me with Uncle Peter," Blaine replied.

"I might, if you answer my question," Cooper said, clearly enjoying himself.

"What question?" Blaine yelled into the cell phone, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Is Kurt the boy that has you blushing?" Cooper asked, his voice actually sing-song. Blaine didn't think anyone did that outside of elementary school. Clearly he was wrong.

"We are just friends," Blaine matter-of-factly replied.

"For now," Cooper stated.

"Okay, sure…for now," Blaine rolled his eyes. "Now are you going to cover for me or not?"

"I'll see what I can do," Cooper replied with a laugh. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try."

"Thank you," Blaine said, so happy that this conversation was finally going to be over. "I'll see you later."

Blaine didn't wait for Cooper to say anything else, he just hung up the phone. Sometimes he swore that he was actually the older brother. Surely, Cooper couldn't be a full grown adult, and yet his birth certificate claimed that he was. He just really hoped that Cooper was going to be able to cover for him. The last thing he needed right now was to be in even more trouble with his Uncle Peter.

The rest of the day went as usual. There were a couple insults thrown here and there at him. Justin once again pushed him into a locker after gym class. He was definitely ready for the day to be over when the final bell rang, but alas, he still had detention to sit through. Blaine walked into the detention room and found that they were having detention with Mr. Schuester.

"Blaine," Mr. Schuester said. "I can't believe I have both you and Kurt in here."

Blaine walked in and sat down next to Kurt.

"What happened?" Mr. Schuester asked.

"The jocks happened," Kurt replied bitterly.

"Oh Kurt," Mr. Schuester replied. "You know there is so much more that I wish that I could do for you."

"But you can't, I know," Kurt replied with a sigh. "It doesn't matter. I only have two more years left then I will live go to NYU and live in the city."

"NYU, nice choice," Blaine replied with a nod.

"I have always wanted to go to NYU," Kurt explained. "I love being in the heart of the city, being one of the eight million stories that wander the streets there. I know we are right outside the city, but it doesn't feel the same. The suburbs just don't have the same vibe as the city. Sometimes I feel like we might as well be a million miles away."

"I agree with that," Blaine said in reply. "I loved living in Brooklyn. I mean I didn't spend much time at my actual home, but there was such a great vibe. When I was living with the Claringtons I was living on the Upper West Side and I loved that as well. This two-mile radius is killing me. I go to the city twice a week to help him out for work, but all I see is the city from the windows of a car and the view from the inside of the FBI building. It's not the same."

"Do you mind my interrupting," Mr. Schuester asked. "But don't you think you were pulled out of the city because that's where you got into so much trouble?"

"Oh no, not you too," Blaine groaned. "Can't I just relive the wonders of the past without having my daydream bubble popped?"

"Blaine, I just want what's best for you," Mr. Schuester said sincerely. "I know that you haven't been here very long, but I don't want you to mess up even further. You are being given a chance to put your life in order and I don't want you to ever forget that."

"Trust me I can't forget it," Blaine replied, rolling his eyes and lifting up his pant leg to reveal his anklet. "I can't even take a shower and forget it, because I look down and oh—there's the anklet."

"How about we change the subject?" Kurt suggested. "So Sectionals are next weekend, do you think we are ready?"

"I hope so," Mr. Schuester replied. Blaine thanked the heavens that Kurt was there and seemed to sense when he was annoyed and really wanted to change the subject. "We have Rachel singing the solo, and then we will have the duet from the winners of this week's competition. I think the Journey song for the group number will be a crowd pleaser."

"Why can't we do something other than a Journey song?" Kurt asked with a groan. "I think we have done Journey to death. We need to think outside the box, do something unexpected. Everyone that thinks of the New Directions thinks of Journey now."

"Journey is a classic," Mr. Schuester defended. "You literally can't go wrong with Journey."

"Yes you can if it's what everyone expects," Blaine replied. "You never want to fall into a rut and play it safe. Playing it safe can be the death of something great."

"You guys really think that we're in a rut?" Mr. Schuester asked, very concerned.

Kurt and Blaine both looked at each other for a moment before turning back to face Mr. Schuester and saying in-sync, "Yes."

"What should we do then?" Mr. Schuester asked, clearly starting to panic.

"How about a song from this century?" Blaine suggested. "A Katy Perry song perhaps?"

"Oh no," Kurt replied shaking his head. "The clear answer is a Gaga song."

"Katy Perry is just as good, if not better, than Gaga," Blaine replied rolling his eyes.

Kurt gasped and clutched at his chest.

"You sir are very mistaken," Kurt cried out. "Lady Gaga is the single most influential performer of our generation. She pushes boundaries and creates art with her music."

"Agree to disagree?" Blaine asked with a laugh.

"Sure," Kurt replied with a smile.

The bell rang signaling the end of detention.

"Well you two have certainly given me a lot to think about," Mr. Schuester said, standing up from behind the desk. "I am going to brainstorm and I will see you two tomorrow."

Mr. Schuester rushed out of the room, clearly rushing to get started on all of his new ideas. Blaine couldn't believe that he couldn't see that the Glee Club was stuck in a rut before this. Seriously, everyone knew that Mr. Schuester was stuck in the eighties…apparently except Mr. Schuester.

Kurt and Blaine walked outside chatting about what other songs they thought the Glee Club should do. Blaine was lost in his conversation with Kurt that he didn't notice who was walking towards him.

"Well hello detention buddies," Peter said walking towards them. "I'm starting to think you two are a bad influence on each other."

"Uncle Peter…" Blaine stammered out. "What are you doing here? I thought Cooper was picking me up."

"You mean you thought Cooper was covering for you," Peter replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He told you?" Blaine asked, feeling very betrayed.

"Er—I'm just going to go now…" Kurt said, not wanting to be a part of this conversation. "Good seeing you, Peter."

Peter stopped glaring at Blaine for a moment, and waved goodbye to Kurt. Kurt wasn't his problem. He knew that Burt knew that the two of them had gotten detention, so it was really up to Burt to deal with that one. His problem was the five foot eight sulking teenager in front of him.

"He didn't have to tell me, I already knew," Peter replied to Blaine's question.

"What do you mean you already knew?" Blaine asked in confusion. "How could you already know? Wait! Don't tell me you actually get notified the moment that I get detention."

"That is my agreement with Principal Figgins, yes," Peter replied with a shrug.

Blaine couldn't believe it! Was there anything in his life that was private? Did his Uncle have to know everything.

"The only thing that I don't know is why you got detention," Peter said after Blaine brooded in silence for a couple moments.

"Does it even matter?" Blaine muttered.

"Yes, it matters a lot," Peter replied, gesturing for Blaine to follow him to the car.

Blaine silently did as asked and followed his Uncle to the Ford Taurus. A couple moments later they were both sitting in the car in silence.

"Why did you get detention Blaine?" Peter asked outright.

"Some stupid asshole made a homophobic comment towards Kurt and I made a sarcastic remark towards him. The French teacher has it out for me, and she gave me detention," Blaine explained, giving the closest version of the story to the truth that he could. "Kurt defended me and she gave him detention as well."

Peter sat there and studied Blaine for a couple moments before nodding and starting the car.

"So a colleague of mine has some tickets to a Giants game in a couple weeks. Would you have any interest in going?" Peter asked, throwing Blaine for a loop.

"What?" Blaine asked in sheer confusion.

"What don't you understand?" Peter asked, glancing over at Blaine.

"So that's it?" Blaine asked. "I'm not in trouble for getting detention?"

"Not when it's for a reason like that, no," Peter replied with a shrug.

Blaine studied his Uncle for a couple moments before deciding to drop it and start talking about the Giants game.

The next day at school was pretty much the same as the day before. Blaine was starting to let some of the comments roll off his back. As his dad always used to tell him, prejudice is just ignorance.

The best parts of his day were French class and Glee Club, as usual. He was starting to miss Kurt more and more throughout the day when he wasn't with him. He didn't think too much into it, he just knew that Kurt made him happier than he had been in a really long time.

That afternoon in Glee Club he performed with Quinn. He thought it went really well. He ended up getting out of Glee about a half hour early, because the last half hour was used for the teams that hadn't gone yet to rehearse. He knew that he could call his Aunt and let her know to come pick him up early, but he didn't feel like it. He wanted that half hour to himself. He didn't get his wish though. As he was walking around the school near the tennis courts he got a surprise.

"Well, well, well," a voice said from behind him. "Look who we have here. I thought you were in jail."

Blaine quickly turned toward the voice, recognizing it immediately.

"Hunter, what are you doing here?" Blaine asked.

"What kind of greeting is that?" Hunter asked with a laugh. "And here I thought we were best friends."

Blaine laughed and walked up and pulled Hunter into a 'man' hug, patting him on the back.

"It's good to see you," Blaine said when they pulled apart.

"Is this where you've been this whole time?" Hunter asked, the two of them walking over and sitting down on the bleachers of the tennis court. "My dad told me you got caught and were in jail or something."

"Or something is right," Blaine replied with a sigh, pulling up his pant leg to reveal the tracking anklet.

"Whoa, harsh man," Hunter replied, staring at the anklet. "What happened?"

"I got caught pulling the Met job," Blaine explained. "By the White Collar team that happens to be run by my Uncle. As you can imagine, he was pissed. Instead of going to a juvenile detention center, I get this lovely accessory, a two-mile radius and a shit ton of rules. He would kill me if he knew I was even talking to you right now."

"That sucks," Hunter replied, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Want one?"

"No thanks, man," Blaine replied with a sigh. "Those things are bad for you."

"You used to smoke all the time," Hunter pointed out.

"My uncle would kill me if…" Blaine began, but got cut off by Hunter.

"Your uncle isn't here right now, is he?" Hunter asked, raising an eyebrow and holding the pack near Blaine's face.

"What harm can one do?" Blaine finally replied with a shrug, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up.

He really had missed it. He didn't smoke on a daily basis, but he was known to have the occasional cigarette—especially when out with Hunter.

"So you never did tell me," Blaine said, looking over a Hunter. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm meeting with a friend," Hunter replied. "We normally meet in the city, but he couldn't make it down there. He came home from a party last Friday night super drunk and his parents were pissed. He says he was lucky that he made it home, because there was a woman that busted it from the FBI. He was terrified that she was there looking for him. I told him that he was just being paranoid, but he won't listen to me."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Hunter asked.

"That was my party," Blaine answered. "Agent Barrigan was only there because my Uncle Peter had her check up on me."

"You threw a rager and didn't invite me?" Hunter asked, clutching at his heart and pretending to be wounded.

"I told you my Uncle would be pissed if he even knew that I was talking to you right now," Blaine replied, rolling his eyes at Hunter's dramatics. "The FBI is monitoring my cell phone and computer usage. I can't contact you."

Hunter seemed to process that for a moment.

"Are they looking into my dad and I?" Hunter asked, his voice so soft that Blaine had to strain to hear him.

Blaine nodded, not wanting to answer that aloud.

"My dad figured as much," Hunter replied. "So they are asking you questions about us?"

Blaine just stared off into the distance. That was answer enough.

"I don't want to answer them," Blaine finally said. "You know that, right?"

"I don't blame you, Blaine," Hunter said. "I know you are in a very difficult situation. So how is life here at McKinley?"

Blaine was about to answer, but looked down at his watch.

"Shit!" Blaine said, standing up and putting out his cigarette. "My Aunt is going to be here to pick me up any second now."

"Here," Hunter said, handing Blaine the pack of cigarettes.

Blaine mindlessly took them and shoved them into his backpack.

"I'll find a way to get in touch with you again, okay?" Hunter said. "I'll see you around."

"See you around, Hunter," Blaine said running off toward the front of the school.

He sighed in relief when he got there and his Aunt was only just pulling into the school parking lot. He got into her car and they drove home with her asking questions about his duet with Quinn. When they got home and he walked into the house, Cooper was sitting on the couch watching TV. Blaine dropped his backpack on the floor and sat down next to his brother on the couch. Cooper looked over at Blaine for a few moments.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Why do you reek of cigarette smoke?" Cooper asked, causing Blaine's stomach to drop.

"What are you talking about?" Blaine denied, rolling his eyes and grabbing the remote off the table and switching channels.

They had no proof that he had been smoking, so he figured he didn't have anything to worry about.

"I'm home!" his Uncle Peter's call came from the kitchen.

"Peter, can you please come join us in the living room," Elizabeth replied.

Cooper grabbed the remote from Blaine's hand and shut off the TV. Crap. This was starting to get serious.

"What's going on?" Peter asked, walking into the room.

"Blaine Devon here smells like cigarette smoke," Cooper said, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at his younger brother.

Blaine Devon? Really? Blaine hated his middle name.

"Stand up," Peter demanded.

Blaine started to protest, but Cooper pulled him to his feet. Peter grabbed him and pulled his arms out, and started to pat him down. Blaine sighed in annoyance, but knew he wasn't going to win. His uncle was going to pat him down, no matter how much he protested.

"Sit down," Peter demanded, pointing to the couch.

Blaine did as he was asked, thinking he was just going to get a lecture because they hadn't found anything. Unfortunately, that was not the case and his uncle picked up his backpack.

"That's an invasion of privacy!" Blaine protested.

"A part of your deal is that I can search your person, your belongings and your room anytime that I want," Peter replied. "You don't have the right to any privacy."

Peter shuffled through his backpack, pulling out the pack of cigarettes that Hunter had given Blaine. Blaine sighed, and shifted uncomfortably on the couch. Well shit.


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks once again to anyone who has reviewed, favourited or put this on story alert. It means so much to me that you guys are even reading this story at all. Here is the next chapter of it. I hope you enjoy! **

**Chapter 8**

"Anything you care to say, Blaine?" Peter asked, glaring at the teen who was sitting on the couch in front of him.

Blaine just shifted on the couch again, crossing his arms over his chest. There wasn't anything he could say.

"Where did you get these?" Peter asked, growing impatient.

"What does it matter if I smoke?" Blaine asked, ignoring his Uncle's question. He was growing bold or potentially insane—the results were still out on that one. "It's not illegal to smoke a cigarette."

"No, it's not," Peter replied. "But what is illegal is for you to buy them. Either you have a fake I.D. that I don't know about, or someone gave them to you."

Blaine rolled his eyes at that one. He purchased cigarettes all the time without an I.D. You just had to know who to go to. It really wasn't that hard.

"Where did you get them from Blaine?" Cooper asked, walking to stand next to Peter.

Blaine figured there were trying to look intimidating. Cooper and Peter stood next to each other with their arms crossed, both glaring down at him. If they thought their little intimidation tactic was going to get him to blab that he got the pack of cigarettes from Hunter Clarington, they were crazy.

"Blaine," Elizabeth said calmly, walking towards him and sitting down on the couch next to him. "Why don't you just tell them where you got the cigarettes? You know Peter won't stop until you tell him."

Blaine knew she was playing the role of good cop, but could see her point. His Uncle was not one to back down…ever. He just had to figure out how to tell the truth, without telling the whole truth.

"I'm not going to name any names," Blaine began, thinking it was good to lay that down first. "I just got it from a friend. I had a little time after Glee practice before Aunt Elizabeth came to pick me up. I hung out with this friend and he gave them to me."

"Was this the first time you smoked?" Cooper asked, already feeling like he knew the answer to that question.

Blaine stared at him for a couple moments, before finally shaking his head no.

"This is going to stop here and now," Peter said, shoving the pack into his pocket. "I don't care what you do once you turn 18, but whilst you are living under my roof you won't be smoking. I will be using extra precautionary methods to ensure this."

With that said, he turned and walked up the stairs. Blaine didn't like the sound of that. He didn't know what his Uncle meant, but he was sure he was going to find out soon.

It was finally Friday and the results of the Duets Challenge were revealed. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the winner was Rachel and Finn. Blaine and Kurt grumbled their mutiny from the back row. Glee Club was entertaining that afternoon. It ended with Blaine bursting out into 'Last Friday Night' by Katy Perry and everyone dancing around like crazy. He just didn't want it to be the weekend, because the weekend meant more time with his Uncle. He was still grounded and he was still in trouble for the stupid pack of cigarettes.

"Is it weird that I am actually looking forward to Monday?" Blaine asked Kurt as they walked out of Glee Club.

"Yes," Kurt replied with a laugh. "I think every teenager ever is cursing you right now."

"It at least gives me the opportunity to leave the house," Blaine explained. "My uncle is great, but there is such a thing as too much time with him. I can only take so many reminders of how I could be in jail right now before I want to rip my hair out."

"Your hair is too beautiful for you to rip it out," Kurt replied seriously. "We wouldn't want that."

"Thanks," Blaine replied, blushing a little at the compliment.

Blaine didn't blush often, but there was something about Kurt that could cause him to be flustered. He couldn't help but really believe any compliment that Kurt gave him. He hated to admit it, but Cooper was right. He was falling for Kurt. He was falling fast. He was pretty sure that Kurt only saw him as a good friend, though. He was the fellow-gay. The one who actually understood the things that Kurt was going through and could talk to him about it. That was it.

The two walked out front and Blaine looked around for El. She was nowhere to be seen though.

"What are you two fags doing here?" a voice asked from behind them.

Blaine and Kurt instantly turned around and came face to face with Karofsky, one of the jocks on the football team. He was big—in a muscular way—with a closely cropped hair cut. He had his usual uniform on of jeans, a tshirt and his varsity jacket. Blaine often wondered if he owned anything else. The same could be said for almost all of the jocks though…and the cheerleaders. He had seriously never been to a school where the cheerleaders wore their uniform every day. Weren't they afraid that they would get something on it? Wasn't it cold in the winter months?

"We go to school here," Kurt replied, clearly trying to control his tone.

"Well I don't want fags here," Karofsky growled in reply.

"Is that the only insulting word you know how to use against us?" Blaine asked, sounding a million times braver than he actually felt. "I mean I would suggest a dictionary, but I'm not sure you would know how to use it."

"Are you insulting me?" Karofsky asked, punching his fist into his other hand in an attempt to be menacing.

What he wanted to scare them into, Blaine didn't know. He couldn't make them straight. Blaine knew that nothing would, he had tried before. This was their local public school, so it wasn't like there was anywhere else for them to go. He supposed they could be homeschooled, but yeah right. He spent enough time at home, as it was.

At that moment, and to Blaine's great relief, the squealing of tires came into the parking lot. All three of them looked up and saw that it was Peter in his Ford Taurus. Instead of being annoyed, as Blaine typically would have been, he was thoroughly relieved.

"Well as lovely as this conversation has been," Blaine said so sarcastically that he was shocked it didn't actually bite Karofsky. "I have to go now."

Karofsky glared at the both of them, clearly understanding that he couldn't do anything further to either one of them. He then turned on his heel and walked away. For someone who was supposedly as straight as a ruler, Karofsky could sure as hell be quite the drama King.

"Hi guys," Peter said, rolling his window down when he got right next to them. "Sorry I'm late, Blaine. Elizabeth had to work in the city today because she has a really big event tonight."

"You know you could have let me walk home," Blaine replied off-handedly.

Peter gave him quite the look at that and Blaine rolled his eyes and walked toward the passenger seat.

"Get in, Kurt," Peter said, gesturing to the back door. "I'll give you a ride home."

"Thanks, Peter," Kurt said getting in the back seat. He wasn't going to complain about not having to walk all the way home. It was getting colder and colder each day. Winter was definitely going to start soon.

"So how was school today?" Peter asked as he started to drive toward the Hummel household.

"It was okay," Blaine replied with a sigh. He figured if he started talking about Glee then it was less likely that his Uncle would bring up what had happened on Wednesday in front of Kurt. "I'm frustrated with Mr. Schue. I don't know why he decided to have a competition if he was just going to pick Rachel and Finn in the end. He should have just saved all of us the trouble and picked them from the beginning. Clearly our conversation with him about how he was stuck in a rut didn't work."

"So your romantic duet with Quinn didn't work?" Peter asked with a quick 'knowing' look at Blaine. Blaine was never this chatty; it was usually like pulling teeth to get him to talk about his day at school.

"I would hardly call it romantic Uncle Peter," Blaine replied, catching Kurt's eye in the rearview mirror.

Kurt looked puzzled. Blaine just shook his head a little to indicate that no, Peter did not know that he was gay. Kurt understood the signal and didn't press the subject.

"I personally think that my duet with Tina was a showstopper," Kurt stated. "Mr. Schue just doesn't know talent when it hits him."

"I'm sure it was," Peter replied. "I have seen you put on performances at enough parties to know that you are very talented."

"Thanks," Kurt replied with a smile.

"You on the other hand," Peter said, glancing at Blaine once more. "I've actually never even heard you sing. I knew that you had a talent for the arts, but I thought that it was focused on painting."

"I guess you could say that I'm a jack of all trades," Blaine joked.

"Let's just keep the talent on the legal side of things from now on," Peter warned.

"Yes, Uncle Peter," Blaine said through gritted teeth.

"I can personally tell you that Blaine is very talented," Kurt replied. "I've never seen any of his artwork, but I can say that he has an amazing voice and some quite interesting dance moves. You will have to come to Sectionals next week to find out."

"When is Sectionals?" Peter asked. "You haven't said anything about it."

"It's on Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving," Blaine said with a shrug. "I figured that you and El would be busy preparing for Thanksgiving the next day or something."

"Are you kidding me?" Peter asked. "We wouldn't miss coming to see you at Sectionals for the world."

"Sorry," Blaine said softly. "I'm not used to having someone that even is aware of what extracurricular I'm in, let alone want to come see me in it."

An awkward silence followed that statement. Neither Peter nor Kurt knew what to say to that. Peter couldn't fathom being the kind of parent that wasn't invested in the life of their kid. The job of a parent was literally to love and protect their child. Who wouldn't be proud of the accomplishments of their offspring? Kurt just couldn't, and didn't want to picture what it would be like having a parent like that. His dad and he had gone through a little bit of an awkward time before Kurt came out. His dad always tried, though. There wasn't a day that went by that Kurt didn't know that his dad loved him more than anything in the world.

Neither Kurt nor Peter broke the silence. A couple moments into the silence, a beeping noise began to sound. It took Blaine a moment, but he remembered that Kurt lived outside of his radius. After the beeping went solid, Peter's phone began to ring.

"This is Peter Burke," Peter said, picking up the phone through the system in his car.

"Peter, Blaine is out of his radius. Is he with you?" the voice on the phone asked. Blaine was pretty sure it was Agent Jones.

"Yes, he's with me," Peter replied.

"Okay, talk to you later," Jones replied.

Peter hit the end call button on his steering wheel.

"That was freakishly quick," Kurt commented from the back seat. "Is that why you freaked out the other day?"

"Yeah," Blaine replied, avoiding looking at Peter. "Well that and I really didn't want to explain the anklet to you."

"The other day?" Peter asked, ever curious. "Oh was that last week when you were at the edge of your radius? You told me you walked Quinn home."

"No, you assumed I walked Quinn home," Blaine said, rolling his eyes. "I told you there was nothing going on between Quinn and me, but for some reason you and El don't want to believe me."

"I was wondering how you two became friends," Peter admitted, ignoring what Blaine had said.

"We have French class together," Kurt replied. "And obviously now we also have Glee Club together."

By this point Peter was pulling into the driveway of the Hummel household.

"My dad is home," Kurt said when Peter pulled to a stop. "I'm sure he would love it if you stopped in."

"Why not," Peter said. "I always love talking to Burt and Carole."

"You know that he is going to try to suck you into Friday night dinner," Kurt said with a laugh as he got out of the car. "As soon as he finds out that Elizabeth is in the city for the night and that you would be left to cook."

"I resent the fact that he thinks I can't cook," Peter said with a groan.

"Oh I don't think you can't cook, I know you can't cook," Burt said from where he was now standing in the doorway of the house. "Yes, you will definitely have to stay over for Friday night dinner. Carole is getting off her shift at the hospital in about an hour and Finn should be back not long after that."

"I could never say no to Carole's cooking," Peter said honestly. "I will have to accept just because of that."

Peter turned off the car and gestured for Blaine to get out as well. Blaine looked at him in pleading, begging him not to do what he was sure was about to happen next.

"Give me your backpack," Peter said sternly.

Blaine sighed and shut the door of the car, before walking toward Peter. He handed Peter his backpack. Peter sat it on the hood of the car and searched through it, much to the confusion of Kurt who was now watching curiously from his spot on the front porch. Burt knew what was happening because Peter had talked to him the day before. Peter would often call and ask for advice on situations with Blaine.

"Now lean against the side of the car," Peter demanded.

Blaine groaned and did as he was told, putting his hands out in front of him and leaning against the side of the car so Peter could pat him down. He was aware that Kurt was watching the whole scene unfold, and was dreading the questions that he was sure were about to come.

"Okay, let's go in," Peter said once he finished. He reached over and grabbed the backpack off the hood and handed it to Blaine. They both then headed to go inside along with Burt and Kurt. Peter and Burt immediately walked toward the kitchen to grab some beers so they could sit down and watch ESPN.

Kurt gestured for Blaine to follow him and they headed up to Kurt's room. Kurt didn't know if the rule applied with Blaine that he couldn't have his door closed. They were just friends at the moment, even though Kurt desperately hoped for more. He decided that he didn't care, he was going to close the door—his father's rules be damned. Both of them were technically already grounded—what difference did it make anymore?

Blaine plopped his backpack down on the floor and sat down on Kurt's bed, waiting for the question that he knew was coming.

"What was that all about?" Kurt asked, sitting down on the bed next to Blaine.

Blaine sighed. "My Uncle may have found a pack of cigarettes in my backpack that a friend gave me. He went ballistic. He says that he doesn't care if it's technically legal to smoke, I'm not allowed to do it while living under his roof. He has taken to patting me down and searching my backpack every day after school now. On Wednesday night, he even searched my entire room. Last night he also made me sit down and watch a documentary on the effects of smoking."

"You do know smoking is bad for you, right?" Kurt asked. He couldn't help but agree with Peter on that one. "Plus it's disgusting. You always end up smelling like cigarettes. I can't ever imagine dating anyone that smokes, it would be like kissing an ash tray. They would have to stop."

"I don't smoke that often," Blaine replied with another sigh. He had no idea that Kurt felt so strongly on the subject. "I just met up with an old friend and it was something that we used to do together."

Kurt thought that over for a moment. "Blaine, don't be insulted but I have a question. Tobacco is the only drug your into right?"

"Yes," Blaine immediately answered. "I swear to you, yes."

"Okay," Kurt nodded feeling immensely relieved. "We can move on to a new topic now."

"You have the new Vogue!" Blaine exclaimed, grasping on to the first new topic that he could. "I'm still waiting for a cover better than Marion Cotillard's."

"Thank you!" Kurt exclaimed in reply. "I'm so glad I'm not the only one who thinks that."

"Anyone with proper taste would agree," Blaine replied with a laugh.

Kurt studied him for a few moments before shaking his head. "Sometimes I think I understand you, and then you just surprise me."

"What?" Blaine laughed. "You didn't think I would be into Vogue."

"Not based on the clothes you wear, no."

Blaine looked down at what he was wearing that day. He was wearing a ripped black sleeveless tee with white writing, black jeans, black Vans and a maroon snapback placed backwards on his head. He had thrown on his black zip up hoodie for when he was outside, but he had left it in the car.

"I see your point," Blaine laughed.

Kurt flipped off his shoes and sat down crossed legged next to Blaine. They began a running commentary on the entire magazine. Neither of them noticed how, but about halfway through, they ended up laying on their backs next to each other.

"There is nothing more classic than a Burberry trench coat," Blaine stated as they looked at the glossy advert for Burberry.

"Agreed," Kurt replied. "It's such a classic look, and if you choose the right one it's a piece that you can hold on to for a long time because a trench isn't going to go out of style like some other pieces. It's worth the investment that comes with buying one."

"Is Burberry your favorite design house?" Blaine asked.

"I'm quite partial to Alexander McQueen," Kurt replied. "But I can appreciate Burberry's designs."

The sat in silence for a couple moments, just enjoying one another's company and lost in their own thoughts.

"Can you even feel that?" Kurt asked, breaking the comfortable silence.

"What?" Blaine asked, broken out of his thoughts.

"The anklet," Kurt explained. "Can you even feel it anymore?"

Blaine looked down and saw that his pant leg had ridden up and the anklet was fully visible. He didn't pull it down like he normally would have with anyone else. He just looked back up at Kurt and answered the question.

"Not really," Blaine replied. "I have gotten used to it now. I used to have a harder time getting to sleep because I could feel it and couldn't get comfortable in the bed."

"I'm sorry for the buzz kill," Kurt said softly. "I'm just very curious about it."

"It's natural to be curious," Blaine replied with a shrug. "Honestly when it's you I don't mind. You must be special or something, because if it was anyone else asking I would probably tell them to fuck off and mind their own business."

"I feel very special then," Kurt said. "I'm going to ask you another question then."

"I think I know what you are going to ask," Blaine said, turning toward Kurt and gesturing for him to ask it.

"Peter doesn't know you're gay?" Kurt asked, although it came out more as a statement than a question.

"My mom wasn't so great with my coming out," Blaine explained. "It was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back in a way."

"Peter knows that I'm gay and he doesn't mind, nor does Elizabeth," Kurt offered.

"I will come out to him eventually," Blaine stated. "I just want to do it my way and to just test out the situation that we're all in a little bit more before I do so. I have a lot to lose if he decides that he doesn't want me anymore."

"I won't tell him if that's what you are worrying about," Kurt sincerely said. "I don't believe in outing people."

"I would never think someone as amazing as you would," Blaine responded. "So not to abruptly change the subject…"

"But to abruptly change the subject…" Kurt joked.

"Finn is your step-brother and he is on the football team," Blaine began.

"And Karofsky is on the football team as well as majority of the people that bully me," Kurt continued what he figured Blaine was going to say. "Finn tries, but even though he would never admit it, his reputation means a lot to him."

"That's awful," Blaine replied, sitting up in his anger. "He should be doing more, he is your brother."

"Okay, I feel like this is you projecting right now," Kurt wisely said, sitting up as well. "Yes, I wish that Finn would be a little more supportive. We just have to give him a little bit more time to figure things out, though. I kind of freaked him out with my crush on him, and we're honestly lucky to have made it as far as we have with him."

"You had a crush on your step-brother?" Blaine asked, his confusion evident in his tone of voice.

"Before he was my step-brother," Kurt quickly added. "He was actually why I introduced his mom and my dad. I was very selfish about it. Fortunately, something good did come out of it. I haven't seen my dad as happy as he is with Carole in the longest time."

"Wait, you thought hooking your parents up would somehow get you and Finn together?" Blaine asked, once more clearly very confused.

"Yeah…" Kurt replied, laughing self-deprecatingly. "I was young and stupid."

"When was this?" Blaine asked in amusement.

"Last year," Kurt admitted.

"Well I'm glad that you are so much older and wiser now," Blaine joked.

"Oh shut it you," Kurt said lightly pushing at Blaine and causing them to fall into a sort of cathartic laughter. The type of laughter that makes people feel like anything in the world is possible. Like nothing can be bad in the world if something can feel that amazing.

Blaine didn't think he was going to be happy about the deal he made with his Uncle, but that moment and that laughter was really proving him wrong. Right there in that moment with Kurt he could really see quitting his other illicit activities. He would do anything that he could to be able to stay like that with Kurt forever. That terrified him. He was much too young to be thinking of forever, yet it felt so real and right.


	9. Chapter 9

**Here is the next chapter for you all! It is actually the longest one yet! Thank you so much to everyone that has reviewed, favourited, or put this on their story alert. It means the world to me! **

**Chapter 9**

Blaine was mostly relieved to go back to school on Monday, especially after having to do chores practically all day long on Saturday and Sunday. His uncle was still taking the whole grounding thing very seriously—no surprise there, really. He did enjoy school; it would be a lie to say that he didn't. It just so happened that his enjoyment solely lied with Kurt.

The bullying at school seemed to escalate since the confrontation on Friday afternoon with Karofsky. It had grown outside of just in Blaine's gym class. The insults mainly stemmed upon him being gay, although he never actually confirmed it. It seemed that because he hung out with Kurt he was automatically gay. Ignoring the fact that he was actually gay, Blaine couldn't believe the ignorance of it. Heaven forbid a gay guy and a straight guy be friends.

He was slightly surprised that he didn't get as much crap for being a criminal as he thought he would. It seemed a good portion of the students considered it a crime to be gay and more of a bragging right to be a criminal. Several people in the school were like Puck, and seemed to think that the fact he wore an anklet made him a badass.

By midweek, his relief at being at school wore off. Wednesday started out normally enough. He and Tina talked to each other in homeroom about Glee Club. Then, of course he had the time of his life in French. He just made sure to always talk in French and never make any comments that would have the French teacher putting him in detention again. Madame Posey seemed to take up the method of just ignoring Blaine's existence. He was perfectly okay with that, because it gave him plenty of time to chat with Kurt.

It was lunch time that things got out of control. Blaine was walking out of his Algebra II class that he had with Finn and Artie. He sometimes talked with Artie in the class, but Finn put all his effort into the lesson, since he struggled a little with the subject. That class wasn't bad for Blaine, he had always been pretty skilled at math.

Blaine walked to his locker to put his books away and get his US History text book. He stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, a few feet from Locker 273. There were blood red letters staining the surface of the cream-colored locker. Blaine's heart skipped a beat. It took him a moment to realize what they spelled out. A bold F, followed closely behind with an A and G. Fag. Blaine's mind was spinning. He could take the insults thrown at him with words, but to put them in blood red letters for everyone to see was another thing entirely.

"Like my present?" a voice menacingly asked as they walked by behind him.

Blaine recognized the voice as Karofsky's instantly. He didn't know what took over him but he saw red. He chased Karofsky down the hallway and pushed him into a locker.

"What the hell?" Karofsky yelled as he went crashing into it.

Blaine pulled back his arm, and punched Karofsky in the face.

He stood back, ready to walk off when Karofsky retaliated. The fight overall was a blur of limbs and punches. It lasted at most only half of a minute before a couple teachers stopped it. One moment Blaine was getting ready to punch Karofsky again, and the next moment he was pulled roughly back, both of his arms held securely behind him. His first instinct was to try to fight them off, but he stopped dead when he saw a familiar face in the crowd—Kurt. The pained look on his face alerted Blaine to the fact that Karofsky must have done the same to his locker. In that moment he knew that he wanted to do anything that he could to make sure that Kurt never had that look on his face ever again. He didn't care how angry his Uncle Peter and Aunt Elizabeth were going to be with him for the fight, it was worth it to try to avenge some of the pain that was caused to Kurt.

"Principal's office now!" the teacher holding Blaine barked.

Blaine realized it was one of the other gym teachers, Mr. Falcone. He dragged Blaine in the direction of Principal Figgins office, never once loosening his grip on the boy. He was not about to let another fight occur between the two of them. Both boys were quickly dragged into the principal's office and sat in chairs across from the man.

"What happened?" Principal Figgins asked the teachers as they were sat down, clearly not trusting either teen to give an accurate answer.

"These two deemed it acceptable to get into a fight in the hallway," the other teacher replied—it was Mr. Newell, the Physics teacher.

"Well he deemed it acceptable to write a derogatory term on both mine and Kurt's lockers!" Blaine yelled out in defense. Blaine was determined to fight for this. He wasn't going to let Karofsky get away with something so vile.

"Is this true?" Principal Figgins asked, placing his full gaze onto Karofsky, who was glaring down at the desk in front of him.

"I don't know what he is talking about," Karofsky mumbled in denial, shifting in the chair. "I did no such thing. He is making stuff up. He's a criminal after all, why would you trust him?"

Blaine was about to go off on Karofsky, but the door to Figgins' office flew open and Kurt barged into the room.

"Karofsky deserved everything he got from Blaine!" Kurt defended. "He wrote fag in spray paint on both of our lockers!"

Principal Figgins looked between the three teens for a few moments before standing up.

"Mrs. Mathers!" Principal Figgins called out for the receptionist while he walked around his desk.

She quickly tottered into the room in her heels. She was an older woman, well into her 70s. She always wore a white sweater and a long flowing skirt—a different pattern each day.

"Yes?" Mrs. Mathers asked.

"Can you sit in here with these boys for a few minutes," Principal Figgins asked. "I have some business that I have to attend to and these two teachers here need to get to their classes."

Mrs. Mathers quickly nodded her head and sat down behind his desk as Principal Figgins walked out of the room. Mr. Falcone and Mr. Newell followed closely behind. After the three men's departure, the room fell eerily silent. The tension was so thick; you could cut it with a knife. Blaine was curious as to what Figgins was doing. After a few minutes, it became clear that Figgins was in no rush to come back into the room. Blaine kept staring up at the clock, watching the minutes tick by.

The minutes seemed to drag slowly by, and eventually Kurt decided to sit down beside Blaine. Blaine was momentarily shocked when he felt soft skin against his hand, but relaxed as he held hands with Kurt. Karofsky glared at their attached hands, but wisely said nothing of it.

"What exactly are we all being called down here for?" a voice, that Blaine instantly recognized as Peter Burke, asked. This caused Blaine, Kurt and Karofsky to turn around in their seats.

Peter wasn't the only one there. Accompanying Principal Figgins were now Peter, Burt and another man. The man's facial features were very similar to Dave's, so Blaine could only logically assume that it was Mr. Karofsky.

"There has been an incident with all three of these boys," Principal Figgins said, gesturing for the three adults to walk into the office and sit down.

Peter hesitated a moment in the doorway, staring at Blaine and examining the damage of the fight. Blaine turned back toward the desk, not wanting his Uncle to stare at him any longer. Peter followed behind Burt and Mr. Karofsky, and sat in chairs that were placed against the far left wall of the room.

"Now I was first alerted to this situation by two teachers who dragged Blaine and David in. The two boys got into an altercation in the hallway," Principal Figgins explained.

Blaine could feel Peter glaring at the side of his head. He didn't even have to turn his head to do so. His uncle was predictable about stuff like this—and to think, he was only a couple days away from no longer being grounded.

"However, more information has come to light," Principal Figgins continued. "It appears that David here used spray paint to put a derogatory term on both Kurt and Blaine's lockers."

"You have no proof of this!" Karofsky cried out. "Just because Kurt and Blaine say that I did it doesn't mean that it's true. How do you know that the two of them just don't have it out for me?"

"You told me you did it in the hallway!" Blaine cried out looking at Karofsky as if he had lost his damn mind.

"I did no such thing!" Karofsky called out.

"You said do you like my present!" Blaine continued, his decibel level definitely rising the more he spoke. "Plus you confronted both Kurt and I after school on Friday. You wouldn't stop insulting us with the term fag. You really think I would believe that it's a coincidence that a couple days later that term happens to appear in blood red letters on both Kurt and my lockers?"

"He called you what?" Burt growled out from where the adults were sitting and had been mostly silent up until that point, "Kurt, why didn't you tell me that he confronted you after school? You said the bullying wasn't as bad as it had been before."

"I didn't want you to worry, dad," Kurt replied. "Please don't get too upset, it's not good for your heart. We don't need you to have another heart attack."

"I'm not going to remain calm when this punk here is threatening my son," Burt growled, getting ready to stand up but Peter placed his hand out in a gesture for him to stay seated. Peter's mind was racing, but he knew that it would do no good for Burt to get so upset at the moment. As Kurt said, it wasn't good for the man's heart.

"David, is this true?" Mr. Karofsky asked from where he was sitting and looking at his son in shame. "You have been acting different. I didn't know that you were threatening other students and bullying them. I thought you were just going through puberty or something."

"They have no proof that I did this!" Karofsky exclaimed.

"We have security footage of you in the hallway," Principal Figgins stated calmly. "School security also found red spray paint cans in your locker. I think it's fairly safe to say that you are guilty."

Karofsky just crossed his arms and glared at the desk in front of him at that. Blaine couldn't help but feel very relieved that there was proof. He just wondered what Principal Figgins was going to do about it. He didn't think too highly of the principal's competence. After all, he heard about the slushies that were thrown in some of the Glee kids' faces in the past—and nothing was done about that.

"Now I do not tolerate bullying in this school," Principal Figgins stated.

Blaine heard Kurt quietly scoff at that remark. He couldn't help but agree with him. He didn't know what planet Principal Figgins lived on, but he had sure as hell been bullied pretty badly in the last couple weeks.

"For bullying and destruction of school property you will be suspended for one week," Principal Figgins said looking directly at Karofsky who wasn't making eye contact. "When you return back I will be keeping a very close eye on you. If you continue any of the bullying I will not hesitate to expel you, is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Karofsky said so softly that Blaine almost wondered if he actually had just imagined it.

"Your suspension starts now, so you are free to go," Principal Figgins said nodding at Mr. Karofsky.

"Thank you for your time," Mr. Karofsky said, standing up from his chair. "I am sorry about my son's behavior and I will work to make sure that he sees the error of his ways."

Karofsky got up from his chair, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the room, and trailed behind his father out of the principal's office. All of the occupants in the office watched the two of them leave, and then turned their focus back into the room.

"Now as much as I know the fight was provoked," Principal Figgins began. "I still can't condone fighting in this school, Mr. Anderson. You have been doing phenomenally well so far at this school, in spite of my reservations about your past. I'm hoping that this will be a minor slipup that we can all move past. I'm just going to give you two days of detention for this. I expect that you have learned your lesson and that fighting won't be a further issue with you. Because of your unique situation, you do have the full eyes of the student body and faculty on you."

Blaine rolled his eyes at that, trust him—he knew that well enough.

"Now I am giving the two of you excused absences for the rest of the day," Principal Figgins explained. "I'm sure this is a lot for the two of you to deal with, so I think it would be better in the safety and security of your own homes."

"I'm very upset that this happened under your watch," Peter said as he and Burt stood up.

"And I can't express my apology enough," Principal Figgins stated. "I promise to do my best to make sure that this will never happen again."

"I'm going to hold you to that," Burt growled out. "Let's go, Kurt."

Blaine and Kurt walked out of the room with Peter and Burt following behind them. They all walked in silence to their respective parent/guardian's car. No one seemed to know exactly what to say. What do you say when something like this happened? Burt knew how much the bullying effects Kurt, despite the fact that Kurt would never actually admit it out loud himself. He, like Burt, was much too prideful to say so. If Kurt wasn't his son then he probably would have no idea. Kurt was a very good actor when he wanted to be. He was sometimes so hard for Burt to understand, especially everything that Kurt was into. Burt had no idea about Broadway musicals or Vogue or anything remotely fashionable. But when it came down to it, he was pretty comfortable in saying that he knew his own son. They would sit down in the living room over a cup of herbal tea—at Kurt's insistence—and talk this out.

In the other car Peter was having a different thought process altogether. He knew that he should be mad that Blaine got into a physical altercation, but he really couldn't blame the kid given the circumstances. He was proud that Blaine could hold his own in a fight against someone much bigger than he was. He wasn't sure that Elizabeth would take the same view point on the matter, though. Overall, the situation brought up many questions. Was there something that Blaine was hiding from them? Were they missing something that was probably and plain sight and they were just assuming otherwise? Peter typically prided himself as being a good detective, but now he felt like he was doing a pretty bad job of it.

The drive home was very silent, the two men lost in their own thoughts. Peter was wondering how to best approach the situation, while Blaine was wondering if it was possibly to get even more grounded than he was without taking away essentials like food and water—not that Peter ever would do such a thing. The man already knew where he was 24/7, had him restricted to a 2-mile radius, gave him a pat down search worthy of the TSA every time he came home and monitored his phone and computer usage. What more was there?!

"Come on, let's go sit down in the living room," Peter said as the two got out of the car and walked into the house.

"We really don't need to discuss this, Uncle Peter," Blaine pleaded as they walked through the front door.

"Yes, we do," Peter said, shedding his black wool jacket.

Blaine shed his own grey pea coat and placed it on one of the hooks near the door. He sighed and then followed Peter into the living room and sat down on the couch, waiting to be lectured.

"I honestly don't know how to approach this situation, so I'm probably going to mess things up and I don't want to," Peter began, confusing Blaine a little. This wasn't going where Blaine thought it was going to. Peter didn't even sound mad. He sounded a little confused and uncertain, something that Peter never sounded. "Are you gay?"

"W...what?" Blaine asked, completely thrown by the question.

"This idiot bully wrote 'fag' on your locker. I think I'm well within reason to conclude that maybe there is something that you haven't told me," Peter continued.

Blaine fidgeted on the couch avoiding eye contact. This wasn't the way that he wanted Peter to figure it out. Oh God! Now things were going to be so fucked up. Even though he was in a shit ton of trouble, he did actually enjoy living here a million times more than he did in his own home. He just messed it up though. Peter was going to kick him out. Well that wouldn't work. Peter was going to throw him in jail at the least, since that was technically supposed to be where he was at the moment. He wouldn't do well in jail. He was tiny. He knew how to fight a little, but he didn't think that would help. Maybe Mr. Clarington could figure out a way to get him out, but then Peter would chase him down again…

Blaine's mind was whirring at a million miles per minute. The next thing he knew he felt the couch dip beside him and a hand on his shoulder that made him jump a little.

"Blaine," Peter said calmly. "I'm going to take this freaking out that you are currently doing as a yes. I hope you know that I don't care if you are gay. It doesn't make you any less of a person or make me feel any different about you."

Blaine looked up at Peter. Peter's heart almost broke at the look of hopefulness in the boy's eyes.

"I'm going to take a leap here," Peter said softly. "Your mom didn't take it too well?"

"No," Blaine whispered. "She practically disowned me after I came out. I tried to spend as little time as I could at home after I came out because she was so unpleasant to live with."

"Does Cooper know?" Peter asked, curious.

"Yes," Blaine nodded. "He was actually the first person that I ever told about it. He handled it so well that I had such high hopes for my mother. I was severely disappointed on that front."

"Oh Blaine," Peter said, pulling Blaine into his arms and shocking the kid like no other.

This was his FBI Agent uncle who constantly forgot that he wasn't on the job. He didn't normally do touchy-feely kind of things. What had taken over his uncle?! There were only two reasonable explanations—this was a dream or his uncle's body had been taken over by aliens.

"If you have any more trouble at school I want you to tell me right away," Peter said after he pulled away from the hug. "A school is a place where you should feel safe to go and learn, not some place that you should fear being discriminated against."

"Thanks," Blaine whispered with a nod of his head. "I can handle it, I just hate that Kurt has to go through it too. He is seriously the most amazing person that I have ever met. Why would anyone want to hurt him?"

Peter studied Blaine for a moment and then laughed out loud, confusing Blaine even further.

"And suddenly it all makes sense," Peter said.

"What makes sense?" Blaine asked apprehensively. He didn't have any clue as to what his uncle had just deducted, and wasn't sure that he was going to like what he had.

"Kurt," Peter replied simply.

"What about Kurt?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You like him," Peter replied with a smirk, his detective skills were back in full force.

"What?" Blaine stuttered out.

"You walked him home the first day that you met him," Peter reasoned.

"He was nice and smart and beautiful and…" Blaine said and cut off when he realized one of the adjectives that had just slipped out of his mouth.

"Go on," Peter laughed.

"I don't have a crush on Kurt," Blaine muttered unconvincingly. "And could you maybe not tell Elizabeth, she would have a field day if she found out that I got into a fight."

"Your face is going to tell her you got into a fight," Peter reasoned. "You have quite the nice shiner there."

"You should see the other guy," Blaine joked and then seriously added. "You don't think she will care, do you?"

"That you're gay?" Peter asked, to which Blaine nodded. "No, I don't think she will. She doesn't mind that Diana is dating Christie."

"Diana is a lesbian?" Blaine asked in awe. "I had no idea."

"She doesn't walk around saying 'here I am, I'm a lesbian', just like you don't do it saying you're gay," Peter said with a shrug.

"But if I had known that, then I would have known that it was okay to tell you that I was gay," Blaine explained.

"I think I would have figured it out soon enough," Peter stated. "Or at least El would, because your behavior around Kurt is now really obvious."

"Shut up," Blaine replied shortly, blushing bright red.

Peter teased Blaine about it on and off for the rest of the afternoon. Peter made them both a cup of coffee, reasoning that Blaine needed a little bit of a treat after that afternoon. Then they settled down and watched Harry Potter for the rest of the afternoon. Peter had never seen the movie before, which Blaine couldn't understand. Blaine ran upstairs and grabbed his DVD of the first movie and the two settled down. By the time Elizabeth came home they were on to the second movie.

"What's going on in here, boys?" Elizabeth asked, walking into the room and looking at the two of them sprawled out on each end of the couch. She had just be texted the brief details of what had happened by Peter, but didn't know much other than Blaine had gotten into a fight at school. She was admittedly a little confused to see the relaxed atmosphere and the two of them watching a movie. She thought Peter would have thrown a fit and grounded Blaine to his room for getting into a fight—clearly she was missing something.

Peter grabbed the remote and paused the movie.

"Here, why don't you sit down," Peter said, gesturing to the spot in between himself and Blaine. "It's a little bit of a long story."

Elizabeth sat in between the two, and settled down to listen to the story. Blaine explained what happened at school. Elizabeth quickly realized why Blaine wasn't in trouble. If there was one thing her husband detested, that was bullying.

"And so I was just so upset that Karofsky thought that he could do that to me, and more importantly Kurt," Blaine explained in his story.

Elizabeth looked at him for a few moments and then asked, "How long have you been in love with Kurt?"

Blaine just stared at her for a moment, his mouth gaping like a fish. He hadn't even told her that he was gay yet.

"Damn, you picked up on that one a lot sooner than I did," Peter said with a sigh.

Blaine just groaned and put his head in his hands. He couldn't believe he was that easy to read.

"Are you going to ask Kurt out?" Elizabeth asked.

"Maybe," Blaine answered with a sigh. "I mean I'm currently grounded until Sunday, so I can't even go out with Kurt this weekend." He was just joking. He knew that his Uncle would never shorten the grounding, it wasn't in the man's nature.

"You ask Kurt to go out with you and I will lift your grounding," Peter said conspiratorially.

Blaine stared at his uncle in shock, sure that he was hearing things. "Are you serious?"

Peter and Elizabeth both nodded. Peter would never say it out loud to Blaine, but he thought Kurt could be a very good influence on Blaine. Peter could see how head over heels Blaine was for the boy. He hoped that it might keep him on the straight and narrow. As long as Hunter was out of Blaine's life and Kurt was an influence on it, Peter had high hopes.

"Where do you think you'll take him?" Peter asked.

"He has to say yes first," Blaine reasoned, rolling his eyes at his uncle's enthusiasm.

"Trust me, he will," Elizabeth replied with a smile.

Blaine was really nervous the next morning at school. Peter and Elizabeth had reassured him multiple times that they thought Kurt would say yes. He didn't feel quite as confident about the situation as the two of them did, but their surety gave him some hope to hold on to.

There he was, standing in all of his perfection by his locker. He had his bottle of hairspray out and was doing a quick spray through his hair. It already looked perfect in his opinion, but Kurt clearly thought that it still needed some work. Blaine had to stop for a moment and remember how to breathe when his eyes traveled downwards and he saw that Kurt was wearing his tightest pair of charcoal gray skinny jeans. The ones that looked painted on. They were perfectly pair with an over sized maroon sweater and black riding boots. God was his fashion sense good! Blaine looked down at his own clothes in doubt. He was wearing a black tshirt with a red plaid flannel over top of it, black ripped skinny jeans, black converse and a gray beanie. Kurt's clothes were so well paired together, and he felt like he should have put a little bit more effort in that morning—like maybe he should have done his hair instead of just throwing a beanie over it.

At that moment Kurt turned and caught Blaine's eyes. As soon as he laid eyes on Blaine, a smile lit up his whole face. That gave Blaine the confidence that he needed to go over and talk to Kurt.

"Can I ask you something?" Blaine asked as he walked up, knowing that if he didn't get it out right away then he would probably chicken out.

"Sure," Kurt replied with a smile, shutting his locker door with a bang.

"Would you like to go out on Friday night?" Blaine asked, the words rushing out of his mouth. He just hoped that they were understandable to Kurt because he wasn't sure if he could gather up the courage to ask them again.

"Like on a date?" Kurt asked, adjusting the straps of his bag on his shoulder.

"Yes," Blaine stated, his heart pounding his chest so loud that he was afraid that Kurt could hear it from where he was standing.

"I would love to," Kurt replied. "You really mean it? Like this isn't a ploy to get that Sebastian guy jealous or anything?"

"No, if anything kissing Sebastian was a ploy to get you jealous," Blaine explained with a laugh. "I do really mean it. I have kind of had a crush on you from the moment I met you, hence why I asked to walk you home. Although I messed that up, so let's not think about that."

"So where are you taking me?" Kurt asked, the two beginning to walk down the hall towards their respective homerooms.

"I don't really know yet," Blaine replied. "I was more focused on you saying yes than planning anything. Now I have to go figure out where I can take you two that is in my radius. God—please don't change your mind because I just said that."

"Don't worry, I won't," Kurt answered coyly. "I'll see you later."

The two parted ways and spent the rest of the day walking as if they were on a cloud. Rachel even commented on it in chemistry saying that Blaine looked like a love sick puppy. Blaine didn't really want to explain it all to Rachel Berry, but he was so high in his wonderful bubble of beautiful emotions that he found himself doing just that. She oohed and awed and said that she thought that they made a brilliant couple and that she could see them lasting. She also warned him that he better not hurt Kurt or else she would come after him. Blaine wasn't really threatened by her…she was dressed like a four year old in an animal sweater and plaid skirt, so it was very hard to take anything that she said all that seriously.

Blaine had forgotten that he had detention until around the end of the day. He was still too happy to care about it though. It was with a different teacher, so he spent the entire time doing his homework. His Uncle would be very proud. After detention he was even more relieved when he found out that his uncle was off on some very important case and therefore Blaine would not being going into the office to do boring as hell paperwork like he normally would. His uncle was going to bring some home and Blaine was going to do it for a couple hours on Saturday morning. He would take what he could get. He wasn't going to let anything ruin his perfect day. None of the bullies at school even said anything to him that day, obviously terrified that they would get into as much trouble as Karofsky did. Blaine's sheer joy must have shown when he walked out to the car, because Cooper greeting him saying:

"What has gotten you so happy squirt?"

"I keep telling you to stop calling me that," Blaine said with a sigh.

"And I will keep ignoring you," Cooper replied with a laugh. "So what is it?"

"I asked Kurt out!" Blaine exclaimed, getting into the passenger seat of the car.

"And given your current mood, he said yes," Cooper said with a smile.

"He actually said yes," Blaine said in disbelief. "I can't believe he said yes."

"Okay, you just asked the guy out on a date, not to marry him!" Cooper joked.

"Keep this up and I won't tell you anything anymore," Blaine threatened.

"HE SAID YES!" Cooper exclaimed. "Hallelujah, thank the Lord!"

"Drama Queen," Blaine muttered, rolling his eyes.

When Blaine got home he had already finished all of his homework, so he lounged around in the living room with Cooper and they ended up watching The Breakfast Club. Blaine didn't realize how tired he was, but he ended up falling asleep very shortly after. Cooper took the oppurtunity to have future blackmail on his younger brother, and promptly snapped a picture. When Peter and Elizabeth got home a half hour later it was to find both boys snoozing away on the couch. Peter thought it was a very peaceful sight, and couldn't help but feel glad that he had taken Blaine in because it had brought these boys more fully into his life.

**So I thought this would be a little fun to see if anyone could figure it out. I have actually been styling Blaine's clothes with a very specific celebrity in mind. I'm curious if anyone has a guess as to who this celebrity is! If you have a guess, let me know in the reviews section. Thanks again! **


	10. Chapter 10

**So sorry about the long delay in getting this chapter up. The problem was that I kept going back and changing things because I wasn't happy with it. There was at least four or five versions of this chapter. This is the one that I was finally happiest with! Thank you so much once again to those of you that are reading this! You guys are amazing. I will stop rambling now...enjoy!**

**Chapter 10 **

"Kurt already sees the way you dress on a daily basis," Cooper said rolling his eyes in frustration as Blaine rummaged through his closet looking for the perfect outfit to wear to BreadStix, the Italian restaurant that was in his radius. "He clearly doesn't think you have no fashion sense, or he probably wouldn't date you."

"You've never seen Kurt, though," Blaine said exasperated, a crazed look in his eye. "If ever there was a human embodiment of an angel, he would be it. He dresses impeccably."

"An angel, huh?" Cooper teased, causing Blaine to blush red. He had hoped that it would never slip out that he originally thought of Kurt as an angel.

"How's it going in here?" Elizabeth asked, walking into the room and startling Blaine who was so focused on being embarrassed that he didn't notice her walking in.

"Not well," Cooper supplied. "Blaine thinks that he owns nothing that will impress angel-faced Kurt."

"Angel?" Elizabeth asked confused, looking between her two nephews.

"Blaine apparently thinks of Kurt as an angel," Cooper explained. "It's equally adorable and sickening."

Blaine glared at his older brother for a moment before turning back to his closet and tearing through it once more. He had to find the perfect outfit to wear to impress Kurt. His usual ripped concert t-shirt just wouldn't be right for their first date.

"Well I guess that he does bear a slight resemblance to a cherub," Elizabeth allowed. "But personally I would go more woodland fairy creature."

"Okay, now I am officially curious to meet this Kurt," Cooper said, with his eyebrows raised.

"No, you are not meeting him," Blaine stated, turning away from his closet and glaring at his older brother. "I am not going to allow you to scare him off! I won't let you get near him."

"Good luck with that," Cooper replied with a Cheshire smile. "He is coming here to pick you up, isn't he?"

"Yes, because of the unfortunate reasoning that I can't actually get to his house without going out of my radius," Blaine lamented.

"Which works out lovely for me then, because I get to meet him," Cooper said with a manner of finality. "But we need to get back on the task of getting you something to wear. As amazing as Kurt might be, I doubt he would want to go out in public with you if you can't find anything to wear and ultimately decide to go nude."

Blaine looked like he was about to have another mental breakdown, so Elizabeth felt that it was time to step in.

"Move aside boys," Elizabeth demanded, making her way to Blaine's closet. She studied the items in it for a few moments before nodding her head and starting to grab items out of the closet. In less than a minute she picked out an entire outfit, laid it on Blaine's bed and then left the room. Blaine studied the clothes on the bed for a moment before deciding that his aunt was a genius. He quickly pulled on the black skinny jeans, a white button down with some edgy geometrical designs on it, and his black leather jacket. Blaine of course added his black converse to complete the look.

When he was finished he walked downstairs to wait for Kurt to arrive. He had barely made it down the stairs when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Cooper yelled, running to the door and flinging it open before Blaine could even protest. "Hi, you must be the infamous Kurt Hummel."

"Er—yes?" Kurt asked, clearly wondering if the person answering the door was a psycho. "And I'm assuming you are Blaine's brother?"

"Cooper Anderson," Cooper replied with a smile from ear to ear. "It's lovely to meet my baby brother's crush."

Blaine glared at his older brother, wishing he could disappear on the spot—or shoot lasers out of his eyes and destroy Cooper, that would work too.

"Oh stop embarrassing him," Elizabeth said, walking into the entry way and pushing Cooper out of the way so that Kurt could come in. "It's nice to see you again, Kurt. I heard that you and your dad kept my two boys company last week."

"Yes, we took care of them and Carole made sure that they had a healthy meal," Kurt replied with a laugh. "I think she just likes the excuse to be able to cook for more people. Finn just shovels her cooking down and doesn't show it the due appreciation."

"Well tell Carole thank you for me," Elizabeth stated gratefully. "I look forward to seeing her soon."

Kurt nodded that he would. They spent a couple more minutes making small talk before the two finally made it out of the house and headed over to Breadstix. When they walked in they found that it was actually open-mic night at the restaurant. A girl in a hot pink sundress and wearing black cowboy boots was belting out an older Taylor Swift song. They were seated on the other side of the restaurant from the performer, making the music not too loud for them to still comfortably hold a conversation. Kurt and Blaine sat in the booth across from each other, and Blaine had to take a moment to take it all in. He had dreamed of this moment for a couple weeks now. It was actually a reality.

They looked over their menus and the waitress quickly came to take their order. Blaine decided on a bowl of soup, some breadsticks, and a Coke. Kurt ordered a salad and a Diet Coke.

"I can't believe Peter lifted your grounding so that we could go on a date," Kurt said, as the waitress walked off to get their drinks. "I have known that man for a very long time and once he sets his mind to something he is stubborn as a bull."

"I couldn't believe it either," Blaine replied with a laugh, "I'm sure he had some ulterior motives for doing so."

"Oh yeah?" Kurt asked. "And what would those be?"

"He thinks you're a good influence on me," Blaine answered. "It wasn't too hard to figure it out."

Kurt laughed and shook his head—that sounded exactly like Peter Burke.

"So have you started the French essay?" Blaine asked.

"Really?" Kurt asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Our first date and you want to talk about school work?"

"Our first date and you want to talk about me being grounded?" Blaine challenged with a smile.

"Touche," Kurt replied. "So how about we talk about something entirely different. Am I ever going to see any of your art work?"

"I don't usually show many people my art work," Blaine replied, looking curiously at Kurt. It never really crossed his mind that Kurt would be interested in seeing his artwork. "I'm kind of sensitive about it. I know I have talent, but I just always find fault in my work. It never seems perfect."

"I'm sure you are just being hard on yourself," Kurt stated. "I would have to imagine that you are one hell of an artist if you are pulling off forgeries of famous works."

"Oh he is the best, not that he would ever admit that to anyone," a voice said from beside their booth.

Both boys quickly turned their heads to see who had spoken to them. Blaine recognized the voice, but Kurt certainly didn't. Standing there was Hunter Clarington once more. Blaine had a feeling that this was going to become a habit of the boy's. He was just going to keep popping up randomly in Blaine's life.

"Um…hi," Kurt stuttered out in complete confusion at this stranger with perfectly coiffed hair. "How do you know Blaine."

"I'm an old friend of his," Hunter replied with a smile. "Practically brothers if you want to get down to it."

Blaine laughed at that. It was true, he and Hunter truly were like brothers. During that time of his life Hunter was more of a brother to Blaine than Cooper was.

"Kurt this is Hunter," Blaine said gesturing between the two.

"Nice to meet you," Kurt said nodding in the boy's direction. He was still confused as to how the two knew each other. There was just something off about Hunter that Kurt didn't like. He couldn't place his finger on it.

"What are you doing here, Hunter?" Blaine asked.

"Business, of course," Hunter said, winking at Blaine. Blaine rolled his eyes. He should have figured that one out on his own. "Ooh! Am I interrupting a date?"

"Yeah," Blaine nodded with a grin.

"Then I will let the two of you be," Hunter said, reaching out and slapping hands with Blaine. Blaine closed his hand, holding on to the slip of paper that Hunter had just given him. He slipped it into his pocket as Hunter walked off, waiting for a moment to open it.

Blaine and Kurt chatted away about anything and everything for the next ten minutes before their food came. Blaine couldn't believe how truly comfortable it was between the two of them. It was like they had known each other forever. The only annoying thing was that he couldn't get that slip of paper that Hunter gave him off of his mind. Halfway through the meal he gave up and decided to excuse himself to the bathroom to check it out.

After locking himself in a stall, he pulled out the piece of paper to look at the note.

_Meet me tomorrow morning at 10 at Denton Park._

Blaine sighed and ripped the note in pieces before flushing them down the toilet. He knew he didn't have to be that secretive, but it was sort of fun. He almost felt like he was in a spy movie or something.

Blaine was so happy to go back and fully focus on his time with Kurt after reading the note. He finished the rest of his food and even convinced Kurt to split a piece of cheesecake with him. That was when the trouble began, though. Blaine happened to see out of the corner of his eye the door to the restaurant open. He did a double take when he realized that he recognized who had walked through the door. The man was dressed in blue jeans and an Ohio State sweatshirt, but Blaine still recognized him as Agent Jeffries. He often worked with Peter's team, so Blaine saw him around the office all of the time. The man definitely knew who Hunter Clarington was and what the boy looked like.

Blaine must have paled, because Kurt immediately looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked.

"Er—nothing, sorry," Blaine replied. "I thought I just recognized someone is all."

Kurt didn't fully buy the excuse, but could tell that Blaine wasn't going to elaborate.

Blaine's head was spinning. He quickly looked around the restaurant to see if Hunter was still in there. His heart dropped when he finally found him in a booth in the back corner. Now how to warn him…

"Do we have any more takers? Anyone brave enough to come up and perform for us?" the host of the Open Mic night asked from the stage.

Blaine was up and out of his seat before he could even process what he was doing.

"I'll do it!" Blaine called out, practically running toward the stage.

"Awesome!" The man replied, handing over the microphone to Blaine. "Now we have several recorded tracks for karaoke if you want to take a quick moment to pick one."

"No, that's okay," Blaine replied. "I'll sing acapella."

Blaine knew that the song he was about to sing was most likely not going to be on any karaoke list. It was a song that started out as a joke between Hunter and himself. They both had loved it the moment that they had heard it, Hunter especially. The words had a lot more meaning to the boy. They jokingly decided that it was going to be like a distress signal between the two of them.

"_Now we run run away from the boys in the blue_

_And my car smells like chocolate_

_Hey now think about what you do_

_Think about what they say _

_Think about how to think _

_Pause it play, pause it play, pause it…" _

Blaine was relieved to see that Hunter's head had snapped up when he started to sing. Clearly the message was received. The boy ducked down in the booth. Blaine didn't see what happened after that because he knew that he couldn't direct the song toward that direction. It would be far too suspicious. He just prayed that Hunter would get out without Agent Jeffries seeing him.

Blaine's heart sunk even more when the door to the restaurant opened once more and Diana, Jones and Peter all walked in. They were all in plain clothes, so Blaine couldn't tell if they were working undercover, or if it just happened to be a terrible coincidence that they were all there. Peter's attention was quickly grabbed by Blaine signing on the stage, ironically at the part where Blaine sang the lines...

"_Well I think we better go_

_Seriously better go_

_Said the Feds are here you know _

_Seriously better go…" _

One look at Peter's face after those lines told Blaine everything that he needed to know—Peter was there on business.

Blaine finished up the song, pretending like he had no idea what was going on. After he finished the song he went and sat back down across from Kurt. He was about to open his mouth to begin a conversation with Kurt, but quickly got cut off.

"Hello boys," Peter said walking up to the two. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but can I please speak to you outside for a moment, Blaine?"

Blaine sighed and got up to follow his Uncle out of the restaurant. On the inside he was freaking out, but on the outside he was the picture of calm and serenity. He had worked hard on his poker face, and he wasn't going to let his Uncle figure out that he had been talking to Hunter.

"So am I supposed to believe that it's a coincidence that I come to this restaurant, after hearing a tip that Hunter Clarington was going to be here, and walk in to you singing a song about the Feds being here?" Peter asked, raising his eyebrows at Blaine and giving his best FBI glare.

"I don't even know what you are talking about, Uncle Peter," Blaine replied. "I just was happening to sing the song Chocolate by the 1975. I had absolutely no idea that you were going to be here."

"So you haven't seen Hunter tonight?" Peter asked.

"I'm on a date with Kurt not Hunter!" Blaine replied, carefully avoiding the question. "A date which you are currently ruining by dragging me out here. I really like him, Uncle Peter. He seems to really like me too. Please don't mess this up for me."

"The only way that you are going to mess this up is by seeing Hunter Clarington," Peter replied, folding his arms across his chest. He was well aware that Blaine didn't answer the question about seeing Hunter. He knew his nephew well enough by now to know what it all meant. "That boy is going to lead you back into trouble and if you do anything else I can't keep you out of juvie. Do you understand that?"

"Yes, I understand that!" Blaine yelled in exasperation. "You only tell me that about 500 times a day!"

Peter studied the teen for a moment. He knew that he rode him too hard sometimes, but God all he wanted to do was keep the kid on the straight and narrow. It would literally kill him if he couldn't keep the kid out of jail.

"You know that we are going to catch Hunter eventually, right?" Peter asked.

Blaine looked down at his shoes for a few moments before nodding. He knew all the information that Peter had on the Claringtons, and Blaine had no doubt in his mind that Peter would eventually catch them.

"Okay, I don't want you to live in some fantasy world about that," Peter replied, before gesturing toward the door. "Go back inside and enjoy the rest of your date."

Blaine quickly did just that, not wanting his uncle to change his mind and decide that Blaine needed to be interrogated some more.

"Sorry about that," Blaine said, sliding back into the booth.

Kurt stared curiously at Blaine for a moment, as if studying him. Blaine shifted awkwardly in the seat. He hated when he couldn't figure out what people were trying to read on him.

"What?" Blaine asked.

"Peter was here looking for that Hunter guy, wasn't he?" Kurt asked, a little edge to his voice evident.

"What are you talking about?" Blaine feigned confusion.

"Don't lie to me!" Kurt replied, definite edge to his voice this time. "I'm not an idiot. I know that Hunter being here had something to do with drugs."

Blaine sighed and shifted on the seat. He hoped that Kurt hadn't picked up on that, even though Hunter had made it pretty obvious.

"Yes, he was here about Hunter," Blaine finally replied with a sigh. "But Uncle Peter wasn't here about just that. He was here because I used to live with Hunter and his dad and do illegal work for them. He is really after Mr. Clarington and he wants to use Hunter as a way to get to the man."

"Blaine if he is doing illegal things…" Kurt began, but Blaine cut him off quickly.

"You have to understand that Mr. Clarington and Hunter took me in when my mother was being unbearable," Blaine heatedly defended. "They accepted me for who I was without any questions asked. They didn't care. I am good at art and I was able to help them out. That was my choice. They didn't force me to commit crimes to live there. I knew what I was doing and I wanted to help. Yes, I see how wrong it is now and no, I don't want to keep that lifestyle up. I'm not going to turn my back on them though. They were my family when I had no one else."

Kurt sat there for a couple moments pondering what Blaine had just said. He still didn't agree with Blaine completely. He didn't understand how Blaine could be friends with someone like Hunter, but that didn't mean he didn't get it. He knew what it was like to search for acceptance. That acceptance had come from this family, so of course Blaine wasn't going to want to turn his back on it.

"I guess we can agree to disagree with what's best for the situation," Kurt stated, and Blaine slumped in relief.

"You aren't going to tell my Uncle that you saw Hunter tonight?" Blaine asked, his eyes shining with hope.

"Not tonight, no," Kurt replied. "But if I see him in the future I'm not going to lie to your Uncle about it."

"Deal," Blaine replied with a smile.

The two finished the rest of their dessert and a cup of coffee each and then started the walk back to the Burke's house.

"I had a really great time with you tonight," Kurt said as they stood at the end of the Burke's driveway. "Thank you for asking me out."

"I'm glad that I didn't manage to fuck everything completely up," Blaine said with a laugh. "I mean you probably should have just walked out after my terrible rendition of The 1975."

"You weren't that bad," Kurt laughed. "I thought the song sounded really cool acapella."

Blaine smiled and leaned in for his first kiss with Kurt. The moment was like he imagined it would be. Sweet and romantic, although he wished that it would start snowing in that moment. That would have really made the moment even better, but that seemed to only happen in movies.

"Goodnight," Kurt said with a smile, and then walked toward his car to head back home.

Blaine stood in his spot for a couple moments to fully take the moment in. After taking a deep breath, and trying to get rid of the smile that was plastered on his face, he headed inside. Cooper was sitting in the living room watching TV with Elizabeth and Peter was nowhere to be found.

"How was your night, sweetie?" Elizabeth asked, putting the TV on mute.

"It was good," Blaine replied, but the smile on his face said otherwise. Everyone could tell that Blaine had gotten a kiss goodnight and that he was insanely happy about it.

The next morning Blaine woke up early and made himself some breakfast, before leaving the house to go to the park. He wasn't sure if Hunter was still going to show up after what had happened the night before, but Blaine still wanted to go just in case.

Blaine left a note on the kitchen table that he was going out for a walk since he was no longer grounded and that he would be home in time for lunch. He heard movement upstairs so he quickened his speed. He didn't want to chance having his Uncle ask him a million questions, so he quickly left the note on the table and hurried out the door.

Blaine was really early for the meeting so he wandered around the park. He had seen it when he walked to school, but had yet to wander through it. He was sure some of the back parts of the park were out of his radius, so he made sure to wander closer to the entrance. Finally it was almost 10, so Blaine went and stood at the entrance. Hunter hadn't been very specific as to where Blaine was supposed to meet him, so Blaine figured this was as good a spot as any.

"Hey, thanks for the heads up last night," Hunter said, approaching Blaine from behind. "You seriously saved my ass."

"How did you even get out of there?" Blaine asked.

"I hid in a stall in the girl's room until the restaurant closed and then I snuck out of the bathroom window," Hunter replied. "I figured they were guarding all the entrances and exits while it was open."

Blaine nodded. He didn't know what his Uncle had in place, but Hunter's plan sounded like the only way that he could have safely gotten out of there.

The two wandered a little bit further into the park so they wouldn't be entirely out in the open to talk.

"So what did you need to meet with me for?" Blaine asked once they were safely behind a little patch of bushes.

"My dad has a job for you," Hunter replied.

"You're joking," Blaine immediately replied. Surely the man couldn't be that crazy. "He does realize that I live under a microscope…right?"

"He says that you're the only one that can do the job," Hunter replied.

"My Uncle would literally kill me if I tried to pull another job for your dad," Blaine replied.

"You're right about that," a voice said from behind them.

Blaine's heart sunk. He knew that voice.

"Uncle Peter," Blaine stuttered out, turning to face his Uncle. "What are you doing here?"

Peter ignored his nephew's question and instead focused on the boy who was frantically looking around as if to find an escape route. "Don't even bother trying to run. We have this place surrounded. We've had a tail on you since you escaped from the window of Breadstix last night."

"Why didn't you take me in then?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to not show his fear.

"I wanted to play out a hunch," Peter replied with a shrug. "I had a feeling that you gave Blaine a message to meet with you, and I was right."

Blaine sighed. Well he was dead. So much for his less than 24 hours of not being grounded.

"Hands behind your back," Peter ordered, Diana and Jones appearing from around the bush when Peter said that.

Hunter did as he was asked and Diana handcuffed him. Blaine tried to look anywhere but at his friend.

"You too, Blaine," Peter ordered.

Blaine shot a confused look at his Uncle.

"You aren't supposed to be hanging out with Hunter. That was specifically in the rules that were laid out for your deal," Peter stated.

"So you're arresting me?" Blaine asked, his voice cracking in disbelief.

"No, not really," Peter replied with a shrug. "I just know how much you don't want to be led out of this park in handcuffs, so I think that will be a good start to your punishment."

Blaine glared at his Uncle, but that didn't stop Jones from slapping cuffs on him once more. To say this was embarrassing was an understatement. The park wasn't by any means crowded, but that didn't mean that they weren't stared at by some joggers and some families that had brought their kids to play.

This all meant one thing—God was his Uncle pissed.


	11. Chapter 11

**Here is the next chapter for you, it's my longest one yet. I hope you enjoy! And in response to the review, Blaine isn't really going to help Peter solve crimes in the way that Neal does on the show. The only one he is helping with is trying to get Walter Clarington. Thanks again to anyone that has read, reviewed or favorited this story! It means the world to me. **

**Chapter 11**

Blaine found himself in the interrogation room of the FBI building once more. He and Hunter had been separated when they were brought into the building—Hunter being brought into one interrogation room, while Blaine was brought into another. So far Peter, Jones and Diana had just been in to speak with Hunter, or at least that's what Blaine assumed. He hadn't seen them for the last half hour, so figured that they were in there. Blaine was left in the room with a couple agents that he hadn't met before, and he was bored out of his mind. The agents had patted him down and taken everything that he had in his pockets, which included his cell phone, his house keys, and a pack of gum. Both agents were dressed in plain 'FBI' suits and never said a word. Blaine was just happy that he wasn't handcuffed to the table this time. He desperately wanted to get up and move around, but didn't want to risk them deciding it would be best to handcuff him.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes Peter walked into the room. Blaine didn't know if he should be relieved or scared. He was torn, part of him had gotten so bored that anything would be better than that boredom…but would it really be?

"So, want to know something interesting?" Peter asked, sitting down across the table from Blaine.

Blaine looked up at Peter with confusion evident on his face. He wasn't sure that he actually wanted to know what Peter considered to be interesting.

"When we patted down Hunter and took everything that was on him we found this," Peter said, placing a pack of cigarettes on the table.

Blaine forced himself to keep a poker face.

"So Hunter smokes," Blaine said with a shrug. "I could've told you that if you asked."

"Interesting that it's the same type of cigarettes that I found on you, which you claimed to have gotten from a friend," Peter continued.

Blaine seriously wished that his Uncle and legal guardian was anything but an FBI agent. Seriously, why couldn't the guy be a dentist or something?

"Or it's just a massive coincidence," Blaine shrugged, looking anywhere but at his Uncle.

"You know I don't believe in coincidences," Peter stated, staring down Blaine. "I think that you have been meeting with Hunter more than once. I know that you saw him at Breadstix on Friday night, even though you claimed you didn't."

"I never said to you that I didn't see him on Friday night," Blaine argued, knowing it was the thinnest argument in the world. He didn't know what he was trying to achieve by it.

Peter stared at Blaine for a couple more seconds. "Look at me." It was not a suggestion.

Blaine slowly shifted his gaze upwards to look into his Uncle's eyes.

"Was Hunter the one who gave you the cigarettes?" Peter asked Blaine, leaving absolutely no room to wiggle out of the question.

Blaine sighed and barely whispered out a "Yes."

Blaine quickly looked back down at the table in front of him, waiting for the explosions. It never came though. His uncle just remained silent. After a couple moments of silence, Blaine decided to sneak a peek back up. His Uncle was looking at him with disappointment, not anger. To Blaine, that was even worse than what he was expecting.

"What now?" Blaine asked softly, afraid to know the answer.

His Uncle would have every right to send him to juvie. He had broken a part of the deal that was made to keep him out of there.

"What now is I figure out how to make the best of the situation," Peter replied. "We now have Hunter in our custody and he can be a very big help toward finally catching his father."

"You honestly think that Hunter is going to give you valuable information on his father just to send the man to prison?" Blaine asked in disbelief. "I can tell you already he would rather go to jail than nark on his father."

"I would agree with you there," Peter allowed. "But that all changed when we found this on Hunter."

Peter placed a small clear plastic bag with white powder inside of it on the table. This didn't enlighten Blaine any further. It wasn't like anyone wouldn't have guessed that Hunter would have drugs on him.

"It's laced," Peter explained. "We had tests run on it because we were curious as to why Mr. Clarington was so insistent that you were the only one who could pull the job. You were supposed to deliver this to Alexander Milton."

"He wanted me to kill someone?" Blaine asked, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Yes," Peter replied. "We believe this man stole a piece of Mr. Clarington's and he was not too happy about it. The reason that you would be the only one who could pull the job is that Milton knows both Mr. Clarington and Hunter. They forged their short lived alliance after you were arrested. Milton quickly turned on Clarington, only wanting to use the partnership to steal from him."

"I still don't get where I come into this, though," Blaine said in shock. He could not believe that Mr. Clarington actually wanted Blaine to kill someone—well, he wanted Blaine to deliver laced drugs that would do the job.

"Milton likes his cocaine," Peter explained. "You were to use your skills to make friends with him and eventually get him to do a line."

"How was I supposed to do all of this when I have a two-mile radius?" Blaine asked.

"Milton frequents a coffee shop in your radius. He lives in Westchester County," Peter explained.

"How do you know all of this?" Blaine asked.

"Hunter sang like a canary the moment that he found out the drugs were laced," Peter replied.

Blaine nodded, taking all of the information in. It was crazy, and yet it all did make a weird sort of sense. That didn't answer his question, though.

"What happens now?" Blaine asked again. "I mean what happens to Hunter and myself?"

"Bring him in," Peter said to someone that Blaine couldn't see. He figured it would be Jones or Diana.

A few moments later Diana escorted Hunter into the room, his hands cuffed in front of him. She lead him to sit down next to Blaine, and then took a seat next to Peter. Jones came in a couple moments later, taking a seat on the other side of Peter.

"As long as both of you agree to help us catch Walter Clarington, we can keep the two of you out of juvie," Peter began. "Hunter is going to wear a SCRAM anklet."

"A what?" Blaine interrupted.

"Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring," Peter explained. "It works both as a GPS tracker, as well as ensuring that he has absolutely no alcohol. This is based off of all our investigation into him which has over time revealed to us how much he drinks. He will also be drug tested on a regular basis."

Blaine gave a sideways glance toward Hunter to see how he was faring through all of this. Hunter seemed resigned. He was staring at the table in front of him, trying to appear as if he wasn't listening even though he clearly was.

"He is going to live with a friend of Burt's who lives two doors down from us," Peter continued. "He's a detective for the local police department."

Blaine heard Hunter take a sharp inhale of breath at that fact. It was clear he knew that he was going to be wearing the anklet, but not that he was to be living with a cop.

"He is going to be attending McKinley High School as well," Peter said.

Blaine nodded, figuring that he would be attending the same school. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, though. So far everything that Peter had just said was in relation to Hunter. He still hadn't told Blaine his punishment.

"Now do you two agree to help catch Walter Clarington?" Peter asked.

Blaine looked over at Hunter for a moment, before turning back and nodding at Peter.

"I need verbal answers," Peter said.

"Yes," Blaine said softly.

A couple moments later, "Yes" was answered by Hunter as well.

"Excellent," Peter said, clapping his hands together. "Diana if you will do the honors of getting Hunter's anklet while I discuss some more things with our little troublemakers."

And there it was, the moment that Blaine knew was inevitable.

"Now I know that I can't expect to keep the two of you apart. You are going to be living in close proximity to each other, you will be attending the same school and you will be both helping out the FBI. However, Blaine you knew that a part of your deal was that you were not allowed to see Hunter. You broke that rule and you lied to me about it on multiple occasions."

Blaine really wanted to interject that he really didn't consider it lying, it was more just leaving out some information. He didn't have a death wish, though.

"Instead of just grounding you, I decided that your punishment needs to include something more productive," Peter continued. "So you and Hunter and both going to participate in mandatory community service projects."

"So I'm not grounded?" Blaine asked full of hope.

"You are so grounded it's not even funny," Peter replied, crushing Blaine's hope. "You are just going to be grounded with the addition of community service projects. Now Hunter, your punishment will be decided by Mr. Fulton who will be here soon to pick you up. He will explain all of the rules that law enforcement is laying out for you, as well as his own rules."

The door to the interrogation room opened once more, and Diana walked in with another anklet. This one looked different than Blaine's, it had two boxes with one on each side of it. Diana quickly got to work attaching it to Hunter's leg. Blaine couldn't help but consider himself lucky that he didn't have to wear this version of it. Hunter wasn't allowed to have anything between the anklet and his skin. He couldn't help but wonder how much that was going to chafe.

The rest of the weekend went unbearably slow in Blaine's opinion. After Mr. Futon came to pick Hunter up, Peter brought Blaine back down to his car and the two set on another awkward ride home. Once there, Blaine received the lecture of a lifetime and then was forced to copy the rules of his deal with the FBI about twenty times to ensure that he understood all of them. Monday was definitely a welcome relief.

Hunter and Blaine hardly saw each other throughout the day, with Hunter being in none of the same classes as Blaine. Blaine had a theory about that—he was almost positive that his Uncle had contacted the school to make sure that they wouldn't share the same classes or even the same lunch period. The only time they really saw each other was in passing in the hallway.

Blaine was slightly shocked when he walked into Glee Club at the end of the day and found Hunter talking with Mr. Schue.

"Hey man," Blaine said, walking up to Hunter. "What are you doing here?"

"I have to join an extracurricular," Hunter sighed. "This was the only one that didn't seem entirely lame, plus I knew that you were in it as well."

Blaine nodded in understanding. Both of them liked sports, but had absolutely no interest in playing them. The school didn't have that wide of selection of clubs, which meant that majority of them were not interesting in Blaine's opinion.

Blaine went to sit down in his usual back-row seat and wait for Kurt, while Hunter continued to talk with Mr. Schue. It was about two more minutes before the last of the Glee Club arrived, with Kurt walking in talking with Mercedes. Kurt didn't appear to notice Hunter, and instead just walked up to the back row and sat next to Blaine.

"How was the rest of your weekend?" Kurt asked, but before Blaine had a chance to answer Mr. Schue was calling the class to attention.

"Now I have a couple announcements for you," Mr. Schue began. "First, we have a potential new member who would love to audition for you all. Please give Hunter Clarington your undivided attention."

Blaine heard Kurt gasp next to him and grab on to his arm. Blaine looked over and saw that Kurt was giving him the most confused look in the world.

"What is he doing here?" Kurt asked, having to whisper since Hunter had already begun to sing.

"It's a long story," Blaine whispered in reply. "But, Peter is the reason he's here."

Kurt gave him another confused look, but clearly decided to drop the subject for the moment and focus his attention back on Hunter. Hunter was doing an incredible job with the song. He was singing "If I Die Young" by the Band Perry.

After he was done he was met with a very loud round of applause, and it was immediately clear that he would be accepted into the Glee Club.

"Well I think I speak for all of us when I say welcome to Glee Club," Mr. Schue said, gesturing for Hunter to take a seat with the others. "My other announcement before we get to practicing is to remind you that I need all of your permission forms for the bus ride signed by tomorrow. I will make sure to remember to hand you one before the end of practice, Hunter."

"Er—Mr. Schue," Blaine said awkwardly raising his hand. "Hunter and I are going to be driven there and back by my Uncle."

"You will?" Mr. Schue asked.

"It's just that the competition is out of ou—er—my radius," Blaine said, almost outing the fact that Hunter was wearing an anklet as well.

No one seemed to really catch the slip, other than Kurt. Kurt gave Blaine a look that made it clear they would be talking about this later.

They spent the rest of the Glee Club rehearsing all of the numbers for Sectionals in two days. It was much easier than Blaine thought to add Hunter into all of the choreography. He didn't sing much other than a couple harmonies here and there, but Blaine knew that he didn't mind. They were going to have a mandatory practice the next day during free period and after school and another one on Wednesday during free period.

The Club ended a couple minutes late, and Blaine hurried to gather his things. He was only a couple seconds into picking up his things when he looked up and saw that Peter was standing in the room and talking to Mr. Schue. He didn't have to hurry after all. Kurt immediately came over to him.

"So are you going to explain what's going on here?" Kurt asked, crossing his arms and sitting down in one of the chairs.

"It's a really long story, Kurt," Blaine replied with a sigh.

"I've got time," Kurt replied.

"I don't," Blaine said, gesturing toward where his Uncle was standing.

"What did you do between Friday and today?" Kurt asked, raising an eyebrow at him in suspicion. It was not usual for Peter to walk inside to pick Blaine up.

"It's okay, you can tell him," Hunter said, having overheard a little bit of their conversation.

Blaine looked at Hunter for a moment before turning back to Kurt and explaining.

"Hunter passed a note to me at Breadstix to meet with him the next morning. The FBI was tracking him, though. They followed him to the park where he met up with me. Part of my deal with the FBI was that I wouldn't have any contact with anyone from my old life. As you can imagine, my Uncle was pissed when he found out that I had seen Hunter. He arrested Hunter and took me in as well. Hunter is actually living with a detective friend of your father's."

"With a radius?" Kurt asked. Blaine was right, Kurt had caught Blaine's little slip.

"Yes," Hunter replied for him, looking around and seeing that it was just the three of them and Peter and Mr. Schue left in the room. He lifted up his pant leg to show Kurt the anklet.

"Let me give you a ride home, Kurt. It's really cold out today," Peter said, causing all three boys to look over at him.

"That would be great," Kurt replied, gathering up his books.

The three of them walked out to Peter's car in silence. Blaine felt like it was the oddest mix of people that he could possibly have together. Kurt and Peter represented his new life, while Hunter was a reminder of his past.

"So how is it with Mr. Fulton?" Peter asked, starting his car.

"It's fine," Hunter replied with a shrug. "He's about as strict as I thought he'd be. He already drug tested me once and he won't let me smoke, which is killing me."

Blaine groaned and muttered, "Don't get him started."

Peter glared at Blaine for a second, not able to take his eyes off of the road for too long.

The rest of the trip home was mostly conversation about the upcoming Sectionals. Blaine tried to persuade Peter to let them go on the bus with the others, but he didn't cave. Blaine had lied a little in Glee. It wasn't entirely that it was out of their radius, it was mostly because they were both grounded. Peter didn't believe in loosening the grounding just because Sectionals was happening during it. Mr. Fulton had fully agreed with Peter, not that Blaine was surprised in the slightest.

Blaine wouldn't say that he was nervous for sectionals, it was more excitement that he was feeling. The McKinley High Glee Club were all sitting in the green room back stage waiting to go on. They were the first show choir to perform, so they knew that they had to be extra amazing so that they would be remembered even after the other two schools performed. They were performing against the Dalton Academy Warblers and the Chestnut Hill Chipmunks. (Blaine wasn't entirely sure what Chipmunks had to do with singing, but in comparison to some other school's names it was definitely tame.)

"What do you know about Dalton Academy?" Blaine asked from where he was sitting on the floor and stretching next to Kurt.

"I know that they are a private all boys boarding school and they have a zero-tolerance no bullying policy," Kurt replied and Blaine looked over and studied him for a moment. "I looked it up my freshman year when the bullying was getting really bad."

"It's been better since what happened with Karofsky, hasn't it?" Blaine reasoned.

"But it still exists," Kurt reasoned. "Don't try to tell me that you are not still getting called a fag on a daily basis."

"Well that's true," Blaine gave in. "At least we have each other to get through it though. Think about all the people that are the only out gay kid in their school."

"I don't have to do too much thinking," Kurt replied. "That was literally me before you came to this school."

"Well isn't this cute?" a voice came from behind them, startling them both out of their conversation.

Kurt and Blaine both immediately turned to see who the voice was, both mentally agreeing that they did not like being sneaked up on when they saw who it was.

"Sebastian, what are you doing here?" Blaine asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sebastian asked, gesturing down to his uniform. It was a pair of gray slacks with a white button up shirt, a blue and red tie, and a navy blue blazer with red piping and a red D on the breast pocket.

"You go to Dalton Academy?" Kurt guessed and then realized something even further. "You're in the Dalton Academy Warblers."

"Got it in one," Sebastian replied. "I wish that I could say that I knew as much about you though, except for the fact that you go to school with Blaine here."

"I'm Kurt," Kurt growled out in reply, not liking this Sebastian guy in the slightest. He didn't know what came over him and allowed him to make the next statement, but he did. "I am Blaine's boyfriend."

Blaine could not help but smile at that. He liked the sound of being Kurt's boyfriend, even if he knew it just came out because Kurt wanted to make Sebastian jealous. The two hadn't really talked about official titles yet, but it was definitely nice sounding.

"Ah—so you have a bit of a thing for the bad boy too," Sebastian said with a wink.

"Sebastian?" Hunter asked, walking up to the three of them.

"Hunter!" Sebastian cried out in reply. "What are you doing here, man? Dude it's been so long since I've last seen you.

Sebastian turned and walked off with Hunter, the two clearly having known each other for some reason. Blaine and Kurt just stared in confusion as the two walked off.

"Did you know that they knew each other?" Kurt asked after a couple seconds.

"No, I had no idea," Blaine replied with a small laugh.

The performance was such a rush and caused such a high that it seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. The Glee Club received a standing ovation, and he could hear Peter and Cooper cheering him on in the audience. He didn't even care to be embarrassed by them because he was so happy with how well their set went. After they all went backstage and went over a few post performance congratulations, they headed out to the audience to watch the two other schools. As much as Blaine hated to admit it, Sebastian was an amazing singer as well as an incredible performer. The other school was okay. They just were not as good of dancers as the Warblers or as good of vocalists as the New Directions. Blaine had a feeling that when it came down to it, it would be a vote between the New Directions or the Warblers.

Before they knew it, all three schools were standing on stage waiting for the results. The third place went to the Chestnut Hill Chipmunks, not that Blaine was very surprised by that fact.

"And now for the first time in a very long time," the judge began to say. "We have a tie for first—New Directions and the Dalton Academy Warblers!"

It took a moment for everyone to understand what was happening. When they did the two schools started jumping and cheering on stage. They were a little unhappy that they had to tie, but that meant that both schools were going to Regionals!

"Looks like I will be seeing you around," Sebastian's voice came from behind Blaine. "I look forward to our next meeting."

With that said he turned and walked back to join his celebrating team. Blaine shook it off and went and gave Kurt a massive hug.

Blaine and Kurt celebrated for a few more minutes before walking back out into the audience to find Burt, Carole, Peter, Elizabeth, and Cooper.

"Congratulations!" both Carole and Elizabeth squealed as the two boys walked up to them hand in hand.

"Thanks," both Blaine and Kurt sheepishly replied, accepting hugs from both women.

The next morning Blaine woke up to amazing smells wafting up to his room. He had almost forgotten that it was Thanksgiving and that Burt, Carole, Finn and Kurt were all coming over as well as Peter's parents, Elizabeth's parents and Hunter and Mr. Fulton. Blaine hadn't seen his grandparents since he was very little. After his dad died his mom kept them out of his life too. He could barely even remember what they looked like, his mom was not one to keep pictures around the house. They were all in a box in the attic, and his mom yelled at him when she found him looking for them one day. She must have hid them after that, because when he went to look for them when she was not home they were gone.

"Good morning, sweetie," Elizabeth said as Blaine dragged himself into the kitchen. He truly looked like he just woke up. He was still in his navy sweatpants and a white t-shirt with no shoes on. His hair was sleep tousled and curly as anything because he had not had the chance to put gel into it yet. "Have some breakfast. I made pumpkin pancakes."

Blaine happily obliged. He loved Elizabeth's cooking.

"So what time is everyone getting here?" Blaine asked after shoveling a couple bites into his mouth.

"They should be here soon," Elizabeth answered. "I'm not sure about Peter's parents or mine, but I know that Burt and Carole are coming early to help cook. I'm sure Kurt will do some cooking of his own. He makes a delicious pumpkin cheesecake."

"I better go get changed then," Blaine said shoveling the last few bites into his mouth and going to stand up.

At that moment the front door bell rang. Blaine groaned. There was no way for him to get back upstairs without going through the main entryway. He hoped that it was not too early in the relationship for Kurt to see him like this.

"Welcome!" Blaine heard Peter say from the foyer as he walked towards it.

"Nice look," Kurt joked as Blaine entered the entry.

"I didn't realize that you guys would be coming so early," Blaine said with a groan. "I wouldn't have just rolled out of bed and gone downstairs if I knew."

"Well this just gives me a chance to pick out your Thanksgiving outfit then," Kurt said, clapping his hands in excitement. "Let me go see your wardrobe."

"Nothing funny up there!" Burt warned as the two boys walked up the stairs.

"And don't close the door!" Peter added.

Blaine and Kurt were both heavily embarrassed as they entered Blaine's room.

"I love what you've done with the place," Kurt joked as he walked in.

Blaine's room used to be the guestroom at Peter and Elizabeth's house. It was complete with a red floral comforter and pictures of flowers on the walls. Blaine had not really customized anything in the room since moving in. He had always planned on making it more his style, but never really got around to it. He didn't have much at his original house to do so. Most of his stuff was at the Clarington's, so obviously he couldn't go and pick it up. When Peter and Blaine had gone back to his house while his mom was gone, he had just taken his clothes and his guitar. He did not have much else that he wanted to take with him. That was mostly because most everything that he had was just a reminder of bad memories that he had living in that house.

"Thanks," Blaine laughed. "You know if you really think it is that bad then you should help me decorate it sometime. I think if we buttered Elizabeth up just a little she might give us some money to change the décor."

"Blaine, that would be like Christmas for me," Kurt said deadly serious, studying a painting that was on an easel. "Did you paint this?"

"Yeah," Blaine replied, going a little red at the cheeks. "I've had some time on my hands with being grounded so much in the last several weeks. I've painted a lot and played the guitar nonstop."

"Blaine, this is incredible!" Kurt said, trying to really take the whole painting in. There was no question that Blaine was talented.

"Er—thanks," Blaine awkwardly replied. "Well here is my closet, have at it."

Kurt literally squealed and headed into the closet. He started going through Blaine's clothes. Some he nodded his approval of. Others he just groaned and shook his head. The shirts that he rolled his eyes at were the ripped concert t-shirts that Blaine had—so that was majority of his closet that got the groan of disapproval. Clearly, they did not fit his high fashion standards.

"You must go with this," Kurt said after a couple minutes.

He emerged from the closet with a dark navy sweater that had red trim on the collar as well as a brown toggle. On the right sleeve, there were two white stripes. The pants that he had were red high waters. The shoes that he had were brown loafers. These were clothes that Blaine only wore when a con necessitated it, when it wouldn't work to look like a teenager who just rolled out of bed or something.

"So you like me dressed in a very preppy style?" Blaine joked.

"Well your usual rocker ripped jeans look does suit you," Kurt answered, blushing at his admittance. "But this is a holiday, so you must dress up for it."

"Noted," Blaine replied and then realized something. "I'm going to have to turn down the pants."

"Why, they will look so good on you," Kurt stated.

Blaine just pulled up his left pant leg in reply.

"Blaine, every single person at this dinner tonight knows that you wear a tracking anklet," Kurt reasoned. "These pants go perfectly with that sweater. The whole outfit will be ruined because you do not have any other red pants than high waters. In fact you hardly have another other pants than ripped black skinny jeans. You can't wear black with navy."

"Fine, I'll do it for you," Blaine groaned in reply.

He grabbed the clothes from Kurt's hand and walked into the bathroom to get changed. He was still very self-conscious about the tracker, but knew that he would do anything for Kurt. He got changed and went back to Kurt to check that it was the exact look that he was going for.

"See," Kurt said as soon as Blaine walked in. "It's so stylish that you can't even notice."

Blaine looked down. Personally, all he saw when he looked down was an ugly black tracker. He wasn't going to rain on Kurt's parade though.

"Whatever you say," Blaine replied. "Now I'm going to go do my hair."

"Your hair looks so much better curly than it does with all of that gel in it," Kurt stated. "I don't know why you feel the need to plaster it to your head or stick it under hats."

"I got teased a lot when I was growing up," Blaine softly replied. "Kids thought it was a great idea to pull at my curls. I just started gelling it because when I did so then there was nothing for kids to pull at."

"Oh Blaine," Kurt said, pulling his boyfriend into a hug.

"But since today is about giving thanks, and I am very thankful for you, I will just lightly tame my curls instead of plastering them to my head," Blaine replied and leaned in to kiss Kurt.

The kiss started out as a soft and tentative kiss. After a few moments, Kurt deepened it. They were both lost in each other. Blaine never wanted the moment to end but alas…

"Well I was supposed to come up and check that there was no funny business going on…" a voice, which Blaine recognized immediately as his annoying older brother Cooper's, sounded throughout the room.

The moment was very effectively ruined. Kurt and Blaine pulled apart. Kurt was blushing, staring at anywhere but Cooper. Blaine went for the opposite approach and took to glaring directly at Cooper.

"Carole has a question about the sweet potato casserole," Cooper said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat at Blaine.

"Oh, I best go attend to that," Kurt said, turning and running out of the room.

"You are so whipped," Cooper said after Kurt left.

"What?" Blaine asked, his glare softening in his confusion.

"He is already picking out your clothes and getting you to change your hairstyle," Cooper knowingly responded.

"How do you know he picked out my clothes?" Blaine asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Because you would never in a million years pick a pair of pants that showed that," Cooper said with a nod in the direction of the anklet. "Also, I was beginning to wonder if you owned anything that didn't look like you were living on a tour bus with a pop punk band. You proved me wrong."

Blaine self-consciously shifted from foot to foot, clearly unable to give a snarky reply to that because it was all true.

"I should go see if they need help in the kitchen," Blaine said, changing the topic entirely.

"Uh huh," Cooper scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Have fun in your denial little brother!"

Blaine just walked out of his room, completely ignoring his older brother. Blaine walked downstairs and through the living room to get to the kitchen. Peter, Burt, and Finn were watching football in there. Peter, Burt and Finn all glanced at him as he walked by, but fortunately made no comment.

When Blaine got into the kitchen, he was drafted for mashed potato duty after Elizabeth and Carole gushed over his clothes for five minutes. He got started and fell into a comfortable conversation with Kurt, Elizabeth and Carole. They talked about anything and everything, from Vogue to the latest bands and even the different insane parties that Elizabeth had planned over the years.

A couple hours into cooking the doorbell rang once more. Peter called out that he would get it, so they all continued on with their cooking. A couple minutes later, an elderly couple came in that Blaine vaguely recognized as his own grandparents.

"Oh Blaine," his grandmother said and immediately walked over and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I was just telling Cooper how happy I am that I get to spend this Thanksgiving with the two of you. It has been much too long since we have last seen you two."

Blaine nodded in reply as she pulled apart.

"Although we are not too happy with the circumstances as to why you are here," his grandfather scolded, clearly glancing down at the flashing anklet.

Blaine really wished that he was wearing longer pants.

"Oh come on dad," Peter said, walking into the kitchen to presumably grab more beers. "You don't have to go all hard ass on him. He has already been punished and lectured about it. Just get to know him."

"It is great to see you," his grandfather said, pulling him into a manly hug.

"Nice to see you too, sir," Blaine replied.

"Now you see what you've done, Harold," Blaine's grandmother scolded. "You see him for the first time in too many years to count, and he already doesn't feel comfortable around you."

"I'm just making sure that he knows that he should be more mature than what his actions in the past have been, Sylvia," Harold stated. "You can call me grandfather though. No need for sir when it comes to your grandfather."

Blaine nodded his understanding and turned back to his kitchen duties, really thankful that Peter didn't make any comment about how he was still acting immature.

"Kurt! I didn't notice you there," Sylvia cried out, rushing to pull Kurt into a hug as well. "I haven't seen you in a while as well. You weren't here for last Thanksgiving."

"Yeah, we went to visit Carole's family for Thanksgiving last year," Kurt supplied.

"So do you go to the same school as Blaine here?" Sylvia asked, washing her hands in the sink after hugging both Carole and Elizabeth.

"Yeah, we met in French class," Kurt replied. "I had no idea that he lived with Peter and Elizabeth and he had no idea that our families were such close friends."

"That is such an amazing coincidence," Sylvia said, clapping her hands. Blaine was definitely getting the vibe that she was a very peppy grandmother. "So Blaine, have you found any lovely ladies at your school."

Blaine had unfortunately taken a sip of water at that point and started choking on it for a moment. Kurt came to his rescue though.

"Blaine and I are actually dating," Kurt said, patting Blaine on the back to try to help him stop coughing.

"Oh, excuse me," Sylvia said quickly. "I didn't know that you were gay. That is so sweet though! And what a romantic place to meet—French class."

Blaine and Kurt were thinking the exact same thing—it would be sweet if it was not for some of the Neanderthals in the class.

Elizabeth's parents joined the party about twenty minutes later. Blaine thought that Elizabeth's mom was a sweetheart, but he didn't care too much for her psychologist father. He spent twenty minutes talking with Blaine trying to figure out the root of his criminal tendencies. Blaine tried to explain that it was just a way to make money and survive, but he seemed to think there was something deep and psychologically wrong with him. It was like Christmas for the man when Hunter arrived and he found out what Hunter had done—not one, but two criminals that he could psychoanalyze. Cooper actually helped them escape that one; he came over and started talking about insanity tests that were used in courts. Blaine and Hunter slipped away with Kurt and had been avoiding the man ever since then.

At around 4 o'clock they all sat around the expanded dining room table to dig into the big meal. Blaine sat in between Cooper and Kurt, with Hunter right across from him, and was in a conversation with the three of them about which was better New York or California. Cooper was vying for California because he found the movie industry more interesting. Kurt of course was a big proponent of New York because of Broadway. Hunter voted California, because he was always up for adventure and something different. Blaine was torn in the middle, he found both equally interesting. He didn't mention it, but after the anklet came off, he might be very tempted by California, solely for the fact that it was so far outside of his two-mile radius.

"I hope Nationals are somewhere far like California. I know Regionals are in Stamford, Connecticut," Kurt said.

"I didn't know that," Blaine said, starting to panic a little. He knew that he was required to join a club, but he did not know if he would be let out of his radius to go all the way to Connecticut.

"I'm sure Peter will work it out," Cooper said, clearly sensing Blaine's distress. "He will most likely just travel with you."

Blaine tried not to groan out loud. That was exactly what he didn't want. He like that school and Glee were typically times that he was parental figure free.

"Oh, I will beg Peter to work it out," Kurt replied, grabbing Blaine's hand. "I really mean this when I say that you are just as talented as Rachel Berry and myself and we need you in this Glee Club."

"Oh, as long as I am as talented as Rachel Berry," Blaine joked.

"Oh, shove off," Kurt replied with a laugh.

"Trust me; I will take your talent over Rachel's any day. Her talent just comes with way too much of an ego," Blaine replied.

"I'm just glad that she has the talent to match the ego," Kurt added. "It would be super annoying if she was that sure of herself and she sucked."

"I always thought the same thing!" Blaine explained.

"Okay, now I have to meet this Rachel girl," Cooper said with a laugh.

"You really don't though," Hunter piped in, shuddering in fake horror. He didn't know how someone that tiny could be that annoying. "I don't know how Finn deals with her."

Blaine and Kurt both laughed. Finn took notice of their conversation after hearing his name.

"What about me?" Finn asked, his fork halfway to his mouth.

Before anyone was able to answer Finn's question, the doorbell rang once more. Everyone looked at each other confused. Everyone that was supposed to be there was already there.

Peter got up from the table to go answer the front door. Blaine figured that it was probably just someone that was lost trying to get to someone else's house. That theory went out the window the moment he heard a voice that he recognized.

"I just want to see him!" the voice yelled.

Cooper stiffened in his seat, clearly recognizing the voice as well.

"He's my son!" the voice yelled.

"But you gave him up!" Peter stated back, his voice raised in level but not yelling like Blaine and Cooper's mother was. "You don't get to choose to randomly come back."

"I just want to see him," she pleaded.

"Why, so you can tear him down because he's gay?" Peter asked, clearly not moving from blocking the doorway.

"Is that what he told you?" his mother spit back. "I mean I may have taken a while to comprehend the fact that he was gay…"

"There is nothing to comprehend. You just accept," Peter replied, his voice sounding more annoyed and done with the situation with each passing moment. Blaine couldn't help but feeling immense gratitude toward his uncle at that moment.

"You can't stop me from seeing him, he's my son," his mother argued.

"Actually I can, you gave up your right to him. You gave him over to me and he is now under my guardianship. According to the state I am in the position of his guardian, not to mention he is technically a ward of the FBI under my supervision," Peter replied. "Now if you do not mind, I would like to get back to my dinner."

Blaine was not overly conscious of doing so, but apparently, he got up from the table and started walking toward the entryway.

"What are you doing here mom?" Blaine asked, approaching the bickering pair in the doorway.

"Oh baby," she said, tearing up at the sight of him.

"You haven't cared about me since I came out," Blaine said, folding his arms over his chest and trying not to let any of his emotion appear on his face. "What could you possibly want now?"

"I just…it did not seem right that on this holiday I didn't get to see you," she stuttered out.

"You made that choice yourself," Cooper said, coming up behind Peter and Blaine.

"Cooper?" she asked, looking like she had just seen a ghost.

"Yeah, remember me? The other son that you pushed out and kept from Blaine?" Cooper sarcastically asked.

"It's time for you to leave, Janet," Peter said crossing his arms over his chest, and pulling himself up to his full height.

Blaine had to admit that Peter was very intimidating when he tried to be. His mother seemed to get the same vibe as well. She nodded and went to turn, but not before adding.

"This is not over."

"Yes, it is mom," Blaine replied. "I'm actually happy here. If you want to start acting like a mother now, then accept the fact that I am happy here with Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Peter."

Janet cringed at that, turned, and walked away. Peter shut the door behind her and turned to look at Blaine who looked visibly shaken.

"What right does she have to pretend like she cares now?" Blaine asked, turning and running up the stairs.

"Blaine!" Cooper called after him, going to follow after his brother.

"Let me take this one," Peter said.

Cooper looked hesitant at first, but nodded and turned to go back to the dining room table. He knew that he was going to be in charge of letting everyone else know what had happened.

Blaine collapsed on his bed and finally allowed the tears that were at bay to fall. He couldn't believe that she thought she had the right to waltz back into his life just because she was lonely on a holiday. You didn't get to choose when you wanted to act like a mother. It should be something that was always happening.

"I would ask are you okay, but I think I know the answer to that," Peter said, sitting down on the bottom of Blaine's bed. "Don't worry; she is not going to get you back."

"I tried hard to be the perfect son for the longest time, before I just gave up," Blaine admitted. "I knew that there was nothing to make her happy once she knew that I was gay."

"You shouldn't have to try to be anyone's perfect son," Peter supplied. "You just need to be yourself. She should've accepted you the way that you are. It's her loss. She made the choice and now she just has to live with it."

"Is it weird to say that I am happy that you caught me?" Blaine asked.

"Not when you understand the circumstances, no," Peter admitted. "I'm happy that you are liking living here so much. You're truly turning into an incredible young man. I am certainly very proud of you, even if you do mess up here and there."

"That means a lot coming from you," Blaine said softly.

"Now come on, there is still a lot of pumpkin pie to be eaten," Peter said.

Blaine smiled, wiped his eyes, and followed his Uncle back down the stairs to the dining room. When he sat down next to Kurt, Kurt grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight. Blaine found that to be the most comforting thing in the whole world. He wanted nothing more than to be here in this moment with these people.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it took a little bit longer for this chapter to be posted. I will try my best to get the next chapter posted in a lot shorter of a time frame. Thank you to everyone that has reviewed and favorited this story. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 12

Blaine pulled his jacket tighter against his body, shivering a little in the wind. Hunter and Blaine were sitting at the top of the hill in the local park, looking at the town lights glittering below. The two boys were lost in thought, not really talking much to each other. It had become a favorite spot for the two of them. They liked how it was secluded and allowed them the silence to sit and think.

It was three days until Christmas, and they decided to go up to the hill to sit and enjoy each other's company before Hunter left with Mr. Fulton to visit his family in Pennsylvania for Christmas.

"It's going to be weird this year," Hunter said, breaking the silence. "I can't remember ever having a Christmas without my dad."

"I know what you mean," Blaine replied. "I mean I spent the last two Christmases with you and your dad. It's going to be weird not to see you on Christmas. They're some of my favorite memories. Especially that Christmas in Copenhagen."

"Remember the girl we couldn't communicate to that you were gay," Hunter reminisced. "She just wouldn't take no for an answer."

Blaine laughed, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck.

"That was the one and only time that I've actually utilized the ducking out of the bathroom window method," Blaine replied.

"She cried on my shoulder for an hour after she realized you were gone," Hunter laughed. "She decided that I was very good looking after that and took me back to her place."

"Your dad was so pissed when you didn't stumble in until 4 in the morning," Blaine said. "He was convinced you had gotten arrested."

"Hey, she was an incredible shag," Hunter defended. "You actually missed out with that one, thanks for ditching her."

"Dude…still gay, of course I was going to ditch her." Blaine laughed.

Hunter laughed as well, and then the two settled into a comfortable silence once more.

"How are you so calm about everything?" Hunter asked after a couple minutes. "I'm literally two seconds away from going absolutely crazy. I mean I can't even have a casual drink or a smoke. Mr. Fulton literally searches through my belongings on a daily basis. He has even searched my room randomly at 3 in the morning once and has searched my locker at school before. He is taking absolutely no chances. It's seriously like living under a microscope."

"If I do anything to mess this up I lose Kurt," Blaine replied easily.

"You really love him, huh?" Hunter asked with a smile. He was happy to see his best friend—virtual brother—so happy and in love. He wanted nothing but the best for Blaine. "I wish I could find a reason to stay on the straight and narrow like that."

"Do it for me," Blaine replied, glancing over at his friend to see if he could deduce some of what he was thinking based on his body language. "I don't want to lose you again. You're seriously the best friend that I could've ever asked for."

"Don't get too mushy on me Blaine," Hunter said rolling his eyes, but internally touched.

"I'm serious Hunter," Blaine continued, pretending like he didn't see Hunter roll his eyes. "I don't want you to go to juvie. It would kill me to know that you were there."

Hunter nodded and processed what Blaine was saying to him.

"I know what my dad was trying to get you to do is wrong," Hunter admitted. "I still don't hate him, though. Is that messed up or what?"

"No," Blaine replied bluntly. "He's still your father. That is always going to count for something. I still love my mother, even though she is still so horrible. Somewhere behind those walls she puts up is the woman who used to take me to the park so I could go down my favorite swirly slide and get me ice cream on the way home. Nothing will ever take that away."

Hunter nodded his understanding at that. It really did make sense when Blaine put it in those words.

"Well thanks for all the wise advice, Dr. Phil," Hunter said, standing up and brushing grass and dirt off of his pants. "I have to be going now, curfew and all."

"Anytime," Blaine replied, standing up as well. He too had the same curfew. He was finally no longer grounded, he wasn't going to do anything to mess that up.

"See you in a couple days," Hunter said, giving Blaine a quick hug goodbye before they each went their own ways.

The next couple days were a blur of finishing the decorating of the house, finishing Christmas shopping and a lot of baking. The Burkes always had Kurt's family over on Christmas Eve along with Peter's parents and Elizabeth's parents. The way that Elizabeth was obsessing over everything, Blaine thought they might as well be having the President over for Christmas Eve dinner.

"She is seriously making me clean my room," Blaine complained to Cooper, flopping down on his own bed. "The only ones that are going to see this room are you and me. It's not like we are hosting the party in here or something!"

Cooper was sleeping on a cot in Blaine's room for the next couple of days for the holidays. They all figured there was no point in Cooper having to commute from the city when he was going to be at the house so much.

"It's not like there is that much of a mess to clean up," Cooper said, pointing to the clothes overflowing from the laundry hamper. "The only thing you probably have to do is your laundry, and maybe straighten up your desk."

Blaine groaned. "So you're on her side!"

Cooper rolled his eyes. His younger brother could be so dramatic sometimes.

"Should I tell Uncle Peter that I think you're being insubordinate?" Cooper asked with a smirk.

Blaine glared at his older brother for a second, but then sighed and picked up his laundry hamper to go put a load in. He was fairly certain his brother was joking…but he couldn't be too sure. Cooper seemed to make it his mission to follow in Peter's footsteps sometimes.

Cooper was messing around on his phone when Blaine got back upstairs.

"What are you doing with my phone?" Blaine asked, walking over and starting to straighten out the papers on his desk. He was fighting the urge to walk over and grab the phone out of his brother's hands, but knew it would be a mistake. He had very quickly learned that if Cooper, Peter or Elizabeth wanted to look through his phone they would—as Peter always said, he had no right to privacy. Trying to snatch it back would be suspicious, and then he would most likely spend the rest of the night being practically interrogated by his Uncle.

"Playing Candy Crush," Cooper replied. "My phone is downstairs and I'm too lazy to get it."

Blaine sighed in relief. There wasn't anything incriminating on his phone. The FBI tracked it, and he wasn't stupid. Blaine just didn't want Cooper going through his texts with Kurt. He would never hear the end of it if he found out how sappy the two of them could be sometimes.

"Don't worry, I'm not reading your texts to your boyfriend," Cooper said as if reading Blaine's mind. "I don't know if I could stomach how sickeningly sweet you two are with each other sometimes."

Blaine rolled his eyes at that.

"So when is Kurt coming over?" Cooper asked, putting Blaine's phone down on the dresser and sitting up on the cot.

"He should be here any minute," Blaine replied, satisfied with how his things looked on his desk.

"Who should be here any minute?" a voice asked from behind them.

Blaine turned around and spotted Kurt smirking in the doorway. Blaine's heart skipped a beat at how good he looked. He was wearing a white Henley with a gray vest over top of it, skintight jeans and brown boots. His hair was coiffed to perfection, which Blaine swears has to take him hours.

"You," Blaine said with a smile, walking up and planting a kiss on Kurt. He didn't care that Cooper was in the room watching. If his brother was uncomfortable he could leave. It was Blaine's room after all.

"Hi Kurt," Cooper said, getting up off the bed to give the two some privacy. "I best go see if there is anything that I can do to help downstairs. Remember, Uncle Peter will kill you if you don't keep this door open."

Blaine watched as Cooper squeezed by them and walked down the hall and then the stairs. As soon as he was gone, Blaine pulled Kurt in for a much more passionate kiss than the one they had just had.

"It's good to see you too," Kurt smirked as they pulled apart.

Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled the two of them to sit next to each other on his bed.

"Nice shirt," Kurt said as the two sat down. "It brings back some pretty interesting memories of our first date."

Blaine was wearing the 1975 tee with a blue plaid flannel, black skinny jeans, black vans and a black snapback. The more he dates Kurt, the more he realizes how little color is actually in his wardrobe on a daily basis.

"Thanks, it's a Christmas gift from Hunter," Blaine said, subconsciously picking at the shirt.

"What's with the two of you and the 1975?" Kurt asked, kicking his shoes off and curling his feet up under himself.

"It's kind of a long story," Blaine said, not really sure if it would be a story that Kurt would want to hear.

"Come on," Kurt replied, lightly shoving at Blaine. "I want to know about this. You and Hunter are clearly best friends. We are dating, and I want to know more about this part of your life."

"Well Hunter and I were staying at Mr. Clarington's house in the Hamptons after we successfully pulled a heist," Blaine explained. "We were staying there to lay low a bit, while Mr. Clarington snooped around to see what information had leaked. It was absolutely freezing outside, so we stayed in the house by the fire most of the time. We got bored and started messing around online trying to find new music to listen to. First we came across the song 'Chocolate' and like I said that became a bit of an inside joke between the two of us. After we fell in love with that song, we listened to the rest of their album and were hooked. We stayed up all night drinking beer and listening to that album on repeat. It's one of my favorite memories."

Blaine looked over at Kurt after explaining the story, only to find an unreadable expression on his face.

"What?" Blaine asked, nervous that he said something wrong.

"I don't know if I'll ever get used to you being able to so casually mention pulling a heist," Kurt replied with a smile, laying back and pulling Blaine close to him so that they were cuddling. "It's just an odd concept for me. It's like you are a TV character sometimes rather than a real person."

"I'm terrified that one day I'm going to say something that's going to make you leave me forever," Blaine admitted, feeling relaxed in Kurt's arms. "That there is something you learn about my past that we can't move forward from."

"Have you ever killed anyone?" Kurt asked.

"No," Blaine vehemently replied.

"Then there is nothing that I can't get past," Kurt reasoned. "Does Peter know about the heist you pulled when you went and hid out in the Hamptons?"

"Probably," Blaine replied with a sigh. "Agent Burke knows a hell of a lot more than I would like him to."

"Do you honestly think that Peter is going to catch Mr. Clarington?" Kurt asked.

"If anyone can, it's Peter," Blaine said. "He is damn good at his job. I'm always going to have mixed feelings about it, but I understand why Peter has to do it."

Kurt and Blaine lay curled up in each other's arms just chatting away for the next hour. Luckily for them they were not disturbed by anyone barging into the room. They learned so much more about each other. Blaine learned about the tea parties that Kurt used to throw in the backyard with his dad after his mother died, and Kurt learned about how Blaine used to make Cooper put on shows with him in the basement.

"When I was little I wanted to be on Broadway," Blaine admitted. "I wanted nothing more than to play Chip in Beauty in the Beast or Gavroche in Les Miserables."

"What happened to that dream?" Kurt asked, wondering if Blaine still had the same ambition. If so, they would have the exact same dream.

"I don't know…I just want to be 16 I guess," Blaine replied with a shrug. "It's been a while since I've really thought about the future. I've been a day to day person for the last several years now, just worrying about pulling off the next heist."

"Do you think you want to do something with music or art?" Kurt inquired, looking around Blaine's room to see his artwork and his guitar sitting in the corner.

"I don't think I'm good enough," Blaine replied.

"I repeat, you literally passed off forgeries for famous works of art," Kurt replied, sitting up and forcing Blaine to look at him. "You must be amazing."

"I'm good at other people's work," Blaine said, shrugging the compliment off. "I don't have much to say in my own pieces. I'm just a copycat."

"I'm sure that's not true," Kurt replied. "But what about your music? Do you write your own stuff?"

Before Blaine could reply to the question, Peter called for the two of them to come downstairs since the rest of their guests had arrived. Blaine sighed, and the two of them got up to go see the rest of the party guests.

When they walked downstairs Blaine's grandparents were sitting on the couch talking with Cooper. Blaine was relieved that so far Elizabeth's parents were nowhere to be found.

"Blaine!" his grandmother cried out, getting up off the couch and pulling Blaine into a hug. "It's lovely to see you again."

"You as well," Blaine replied.

"I see the two of you are still going strong," she said, gesturing between Kurt and Blaine.

"Yes," Kurt replied, smiling as she pulled him in for a hug as well.

"Blaine," his grandfather greeted. "Staying out of trouble I hope."

"Doing my best, sir," Blaine replied, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

"What did I say the last time you were here, dad?" Peter asked, walking into the room with two beers, handing one to Cooper and one to his father.

"That you are handling it," he replied with a shrug. "I'm his grandfather, it's my duty to double check that he is behaving."

Blaine wanted to make a joke that he would have to get in line behind Peter, the FBI, Elizabeth and Cooper, but thought better of it.

"You went for a very different look this time, dear," Blaine's grandmother said, choosing to ignore what her husband and son were discussing. "You looked so dapper before."

"I let Kurt pick out my clothes that night," Blaine replied with a quick glance at Kurt, who was smirking. "This is much more my style."

"Now do you think your choice of so much dark clothing is based on an inner turmoil?" a voice that Blaine recognized as Elizabeth's father asked as he walked into the room. "Or is there a need to look the part of a rebellious teenager to match your past misdeeds?"

Blaine stared at him in confusion for a moment. Was this guy serious? Was he actually trying to psychoanalyze his clothing choices?

"I mean I personally think he just wants to drop out of school and join a pop punk band," Cooper joked from where he was sat on the couch.

"Is that an ambition of yours?" Elizabeth's father asked, sitting down on the loveseat, and staring inquiringly at Blaine.

"Yeah…totally," Blaine sarcastically replied, pulling off his snapback, running his fingers through his hair and then placing it back on his head. "Kurt are you thirsty? I'm going to go get something to drink."

"Yeah, let's go," Kurt said, grabbing Blaine's hand and quickly pulling him toward the garage where the cooler full of sodas and beers were currently sitting.

Once they got into the garage and had the door closed behind them, they both burst out in laughter. The rest of the night was spent trying to avoid Elizabeth's father and sharing little looks with Kurt that almost sent them into full-blown hysterics once more.

The Christmas holidays went super quickly after that night, and the next thing Blaine knew he and Hunter were shopping for a small get together that Blaine was hosting. Peter was letting Blaine have the Glee Club over for New Year's Eve. Peter, Elizabeth, Burt, Carole and Mr. Fulton were all going to be having their own party on the second floor, while the Glee kids got the basement. Peter, of course, reminded Blaine almost every five minutes leading up to the event that there was to be absolutely no drugs or alcohol at the party.

Kurt had come over early to help make food for the party. As soon as Kurt found out that Blaine was going to be hosting an event, he immediately jumped on board with planning the party and deciding what food there was going to be. He also decided upon a theme for the whole event, which led Blaine and Hunter to walking to Costco because of a crisis.

"I don't know what was wrong with those plates," Hunter said, browsing along the disposable plates and utensils section. "They were literally just bright red plates."

"Kurt is trying to go for an elegant black and silver theme for the party. He doesn't think red goes with his elegant theme," Blaine replied with a shrug. He was used to his boyfriend's eccentricities by now.

"Whatever you say," Hunter replied with a laugh.

Blaine picked up some silver plates that he thought Kurt would approve of and went to pay for them. The cold hit them as soon as they walked back outside, and Blaine pulled his scarf tighter around his neck against the chill.

"Well if it isn't the two traitors that I used to call my sons," a voice behind them said.

Blaine and Hunter turned and saw Mr. Clarington standing at the edge of the parking lot, his arms folded across his chest glaring at them.

"Dad," Hunter stuttered out in surprise. "W…what are you doing here?"

"Don't dad me," Mr. Clarington replied, grabbing on to Hunter's arm and Blaine's arm and pulling them around behind one of the dumpsters so they would have more privacy. "Don't think I haven't heard the rumors that you are talking with the police. You obviously narked on me. There is no other way that you walked away free."

Hunter jerked away from his father's grip. "I'm not free." He pulled up his left leg to reveal the anklet.

"So you blabbed just to stay out of juvie, that's still a betrayal," Mr. Clarington replied, letting go of Blaine's arm and turning his full attention to his son. "After all I've done for you and you wimp out the minute that things get a little tough."

"A little tough?" Hunter shrieked, his voice cracking in disbelief. "We're talking about a juvenile detention center! It's not like I want to live with a police officer or Blaine wants to live with a Fed, but we adapted to the circumstances like you taught us to. You taught us how to survive, and we are trying to follow that."

"What do you want, Mr. Clarington?" Blaine piped in. "We really only have about five more minutes before my Uncle get suspicious and comes looking for us. Since he is on a mission to put you behind bars, you probably want to be long gone by then."

"I want you to forge a Raphael," Mr. Clarington replied, turning his attention toward Blaine. "I need it by next Tuesday."

"I can't do that," Blaine replied, shaking his head and getting ready to turn and walk away.

"Oh, I would if I were you," Mr. Clarington threatened. "I have a lot of incriminating evidence on the two of you that I could accidentally slip to the Feds."

Blaine stopped dead in his tracks at the words that Mr. Clarington just said. He thought he knew the man and that he would never do something like that, but that tone of voice said that he was dead serious.

"You're bluffing," Hunter replied. "You would be incriminating yourself as well."

"I have nothing to lose," Mr. Clarington replied. "I can easily run and have it take a bit for the FBI to find out. You two on the other hand are tethered to a radius."

"What does this have to do with me, though?" Hunter asked. "All you are asking is for Blaine to forge something."

"You're going to deliver it to me," Mr. Clarington replied, pulling two burner phones out of his pocket and handing one to each boy. "I'll be in touch."


	13. Chapter 13

**See I told you I would get this one up faster than the last one! Thank you so much to any of you that are reading this story, it really means the world to me. Also I mention at one point that Sebastian's father is a Senator in this story, but I know that he is a State Attorney. Him being a Senator worked better for the story. Thanks again to everyone reading, favoriting and reviewing! Love you all.**

Chapter 13

"We have to tell my Uncle," Blaine said as the two began to walk toward his home.

"We can't tell your Uncle," Hunter replied, stopping in his tracks. "My dad doesn't take betrayal well and there is no way he is joking. Do you think your Uncle is still going to be able to do anything to protect you after incriminating evidence is handed to the FBI? No matter how much he is going to want to protect you he isn't going to be able to put his ass on the line like that."

Blaine thought about it for a couple moments before grudgingly nodding. Hunter might be right about this. It would be best to not tell his Uncle and just hopefully be able to get away with this under his Uncle's nose. Of course, in order to be able to forge a Raphael he needs the correct supplies so that he can make it as authentic as possible. If Mr. Clarington was adamant that he would figure out how to have Blaine pull it off, then maybe the man was right. The was still free from the clutches of the FBI after all, even though they were all vehemently searching for him.

"Okay, we have to be convincing when we get back then," Blaine sighed. "If you give Uncle Peter even the hint of something possibly being wrong he is like a dog with a bone."

"Well it's a good thing that you and I perfected our poker faces a long time ago then," Hunter replied.

Blaine wanted to say that unfortunately his poker face didn't seem to always work with his Uncle, but ultimately decided to keep that to himself.

Fortunately for them, they didn't see much of Peter when they got back. They were too busy helping Kurt set up the basement for the party. Next thing they knew, the party was in full swing in the basement. The party included amazing treats created by Kurt, a small dance floor, a TV silently playing in the background so they wouldn't miss the ball dropping in Times Square and a karaoke machine for all their musical needs.

"Please sing something," Kurt begged Blaine for the millionth time that night.

Rachel had spent half the night making out with her boyfriend and the other half belting her heart out on the karaoke machine. She was currently preoccupied with Finn, so Kurt thought it was the perfect time for Blaine to go on stage.

"Fine," Blaine eventually replied, not wanting to disappoint Kurt, but also loving the opportunity to perform.

Blaine walked to the little stage area that they had set up and picked up his guitar he had brought down, but that had remained untouched so far.

"This goes out to the best boyfriend in the world," Blaine said and gave a wink toward Kurt.

_'We don't have to be ordinary_

_Make our best mistakes_

_'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry_

_So baby be the life of the party_

_I'm telling you to take your shot it might be scary_

_Hearts are gonna break _

_'Cause we don't have the time to be sorry_

_So baby be the life of the party' _

By the time Blaine strummed the last note on the guitar, everyone in the room had their full attention on him. As soon as he finished, the room erupted in applause. Kurt ran up and pulled him into a hug as soon as he put the guitar down.

"That song was amazing, Blaine," Kurt said with a huge smile on his face. "Was that something you wrote yourself?"

"No, it's a song by Shawn Mendes," Blaine replied. "I told you I'm a copycat, not an original."

"I still don't believe that," Kurt replied adamantly, and then pulled Blaine in for a kiss. "I would never date anyone who wasn't an original."

"This is so sickeningly sweet that I might actually vomit," a voice said from behind them.

Blaine recognized the voice, but turned around to double-check because he wasn't sure why he would be there. Lo and behold, when he turned around there he was—Sebastian Smythe.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "How did you even get in here?"

"Are you always this welcoming to your guests?" Sebastian asked, quirking an eyebrow in amusement. "Hunter invited me and your Uncle let me in."

"Seb!" Hunter called out, crossing the room and pulling him into a 'guy' hug. "Glad you could make it bro."

Hunter pulled Seb off toward the food table, leaving Kurt and Blaine on their own once more.

"Did you ever find out how the two of them know each other?" Kurt asked, grabbing Blaine's hand and pulling him to sit on of the unoccupied couches.

"Yeah, they actually met because their dads would attend the same events when they were younger. Sebastian's father is a Senator and Mr. Clarington has conned his way into some pretty high circles. Sebastian and Hunter would hang out during some of these events together and became really close," Blaine replied.

"How did you not meet Sebastian then?" Kurt asked. "You lived with the Claringtons on and off for about two years."

"By the time I moved in with them Mr. Clarington was not hanging around the same circle as Mr. Smythe anymore," Blaine replied. "I'm not really sure what happened, I just know that someone in the circle got suspicious and Mr. Clarington quietly exited before anything exploded."

Kurt nodded his understanding. "I told you, I'm fairly certain you live in a TV show and not in real life."

Blaine laughed and pulled Kurt close to him. "Sometimes I swear I do too, because I have no idea how I snatched someone as perfect as you. You have to be fictional."

Kurt laughed and playfully punched Blaine in the arm. "I realize how cheesy we sound sometimes."

"Yeah, I know," Blaine replied with a shrug. "Haters gonna hate."

"Are you going to burst out into a Taylor Swift song now?" Kurt asked.

"It's tempting."

Blaine and Kurt spent a couple more moments alone together, enjoying each other's company. That all abruptly ended by a loud beeping noise. Blaine pulled up his pant leg in confusion, but saw that the box was green like it always was. It wasn't him that was making the noise. That meant that it had to be Hunter. Blaine got up and searched for Hunter, and found him standing with Sebastian with a red solo cup in his hands.

Before Blaine could ask him what was going on, the door to the basement opened and thundering footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. Peter was closely followed by Mr. Fulton who quickly spotted Blaine and Hunter and rushed over. Everyone else in the basement were looking at each other in confusion, having no idea what was going on.

"I swear I just had punch," Hunter defended the moment the two men arrived.

"He didn't even drink!" Blaine exclaimed at the same moment as Hunter spoke and as Peter asked, "What's going on here?"

"Agent Burke, I swear this cup was all I had," Hunter said, handing the red solo cup to Peter.

"What's going on?" Santana asked, not afraid to ask the question that was on everyone's mind.

Her question was ignored though, all four of them too busy trying to figure out what was happening.

"Let me see your anklet," Peter demanded.

There was even more confusion in the room when not Blaine, but Hunter sat on the folding chair and pulled up his left pant leg.

"He's a criminal too?" Rachel asked sounding scandalized. "If this gets out it could really hurt our Glee Club's reputation for Regionals."

Majority of the room turned and stared at Rachel in disbelief. Did she not know when to shut her mouth? Seriously, not everything was all about Glee Club.

"The only possibility is that this punch was spiked," Mr. Fulton said with a sigh, looking intensely at Hunter. "Did you spike this?"

"No!" Hunter yelled in reply. "I'm not an idiot. Why would I drink something with alcohol in it, knowing full well that you would be alerted by this thing?" Hunter shook his leg to indicate the anklet that was still beeping.

Blaine fully expected his Uncle to turn toward him and accuse him of spiking the punch next, but to his surprise Peter turned past Blaine and toward the room at large.

"Did one of you put alcohol in the punch?" Peter asked, crossing his arms over his chest and pulling himself up to his full height. He was utilizing his intimidation methods, knowing full well how to make himself look like someone to not be messed with.

After a couple moments of silence Puck finally muttered out, "I did."

"Come with me you two," Peter said, gesturing for Puck and Hunter. "Blaine, would you do me a favor and dispose of the punch?"

Blaine nodded in reply, immediately heading over to do as was asked of him. His Uncle meant business, and for the time being he was just happy that he wasn't going to be the one on the receiving end of one of his Uncle's infamous lectures.

Blaine quickly dumped the rest of the punch down the drain in the downstairs bathroom and returned to the party, pulling out some 2-liter Coke bottles from the cabinets. After he got everything set up once more, Blaine headed back over to Kurt.

"Well this has been a dramatic night," Blaine said sitting down next to his boyfriend on the couch.

They didn't get too long to relax though, because not even twenty seconds later they were interrupted by Santana.

"So what the hell was that all about?" Santana asked loudly, the rest of the room quieting from their own conversations to hear Blaine's answer.

"I really don't think that it's my place to say," Blaine replied with a shrug.

"Oh come on," Sebastian said from where he was sitting on one of the bar stools. "It's not like everyone here doesn't know that he wears an anklet. He wears a SCRAM anklet which means that not only does it have GPS but it also monitors for any alcohol in his system."

Blaine looked over slightly surprised. He was shocked that Hunter had told Sebastian about it, because typically Hunter was a very private person. It was clear that he didn't want word about this to spread around. It appeared that Blaine underestimated the friendship between Sebastian and Hunter, though.

"So that's what the beeping was," Quinn said in realization. "Puck spiked the punch so it showed that Hunter was drinking alcohol."

"Yes," Hunter said walking down the stairs and joining the party once more. He immediately walked over to Sebastian and the two began a conversation once more as if nothing unusual had happened in the last ten minutes.

Blaine shrugged and turned back to Kurt.

"So has this party been everything that you hoped for?" Blaine asked with a smile, loving the way that Kurt's eyes lit up when he was excited by something like successful party planning.

"Yes," Kurt replied with a grin. "I mean I can't even say that the drama detracted from it, because we all know that I love a good dramatic scene."

Blaine grinned and grabbed Kurt's hands.

"So we have five more minutes until midnight," Blaine said. "Are you going to be my midnight kiss?"

"We will be having a serious talk if I'm not," Kurt replied. "It's not quite as romantic with so many people in the room, though."

Blaine was going to say that he agreed, but then quickly came up with an idea. This was his house after all, there was no reason that the two of them had to stay in the basement.

"Come with me," Blaine said, pulling Kurt along behind him.

They headed up the stairs and out the back door. Blaine began pulling Kurt along a very familiar path. It took Kurt a couple moments, but he finally realized that they were heading for Denton Park. Kurt used to frequent the playground when he was little, but hadn't really explored the park much other than that. Blaine immediately started taking him toward the back of the park and up a hill.

Kurt had never seen his town this way before. The lights of the homes were all shining in the distance, making them seem so far away. Even though the park really wasn't that secluded, being on the top of the hill made them feel like they were in another world entirely—a world made up of just the two of them. Nothing else mattered in that moment but Kurt and Blaine and the tingling feeling in their hands as their skin touched. In the distance fireworks began to explode in the night sky, signaling that it was finally a new year. Blaine cupped Kurt's face with his hands, pulling him in for a soft and sensual kiss. The kiss deepened in intensity, and Blaine's hands began to move down, so that he was running his hands over Kurt's body. Kurt's hands had gone from being on Blaine's back to down into each of his back jean pockets. Blaine had never felt the spark like he was feeling in that moment. He didn't want this moment to end.

Kurt pulled apart, abruptly pulling his hands out of Blaine's pockets.

"What the hell is this?" Kurt asked, pulling out a silver burner phone.

Blaine's heart skipped a beat. He had forgotten that Mr. Clarington had given that to him. When he had gotten back from that confrontation he had gotten so wrapped up in helping Kurt that he didn't have the chance to go and hide it somewhere in his room.

"What is this?" Kurt asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "I know for a fact that this is not the phone that Peter gave you."

"It's not what you think," Blaine stuttered out.

"Oh really?" Kurt asked, his voice going cold. "Does Peter know you have this?"

Blaine hesitated, not sure how to answer the question. He knew Kurt would never forgive him if he let a lie slip out of his mouth. The hesitation was enough of an answer for Kurt. He knew exactly what that meant. Kurt looked at the screen as it beeped, the message reading: **Don't forget about our deal, Blaine. I need that Raphael. I'm not kidding around.**

"I can't believe you!" Kurt cried out. "I thought for sure that you were actually making a change. You said to me that you saw that what you were doing was wrong. You lied to my face about all of this! I can't believe that I actually believed you. It's all that stupid Hunter Clarington's fault! Ever since he got here he has caused nothing but trouble, tonight should prove that!"

"Hunter didn't do anything!" Blaine defended. "It was Puck who spiked the punch!"

"Hunter had you sneaking to secret meetings and got you smoking again," Kurt continued as if he hadn't even heard a word that Blaine had said in Hunter's defense. "He's a bad influence on you and you can't even see that! How thick are you?"

"Don't you dare insult my best friend like that!" Blaine spat out in reply, shaking in his anger. He couldn't believe that Kurt was saying all of these things. "Hunter was there for me like no one else in my life ever has been! He's the only one who gets me!"

Blaine realized the words that slipped out of his mouth a moment too late. Kurt stared at him in disbelief and then turn and ran back down the hill. Blaine stood there in shock for a few moments. This had to be a nightmare. What kind of new year was this?

Blaine slowly made his way back down the hill, trying to figure out some way that he would be able to make this right. Maybe if he just explained to Kurt that Mr. Clarington was blackmailing Hunter and Blaine, Kurt might listen and forgive him. That wouldn't make up for Blaine saying that Kurt doesn't understand him like Hunter does. Then again, Kurt said some things that were just as bad. He jumped to conclusions about the whole situation when he clearly didn't know all of the details.

When he finally made it back to the Burke household he saw that most of the cars were gone out front, meaning that the Glee Club members had left. The only one that Blaine recognized was the SUV that Kurt's dad had gotten him as a Christmas present, meaning that Kurt was still there—unless Kurt didn't come back to the house after their fight. Blaine hoped that he came back, because if Kurt walked to his own home then Blaine wasn't able to try to make things right tonight because of his stupid radius.

Blaine wanted to get this conversation over with as soon as possible. They both said things that they regretted, hopefully they both realized that, and then they would apologize to each other and they could go on with the rest of their night. It's not like the night could possibly get any worse…right?

That idea went straight down the drain the moment Blaine walked in through the back door. There sitting at the kitchen table were Kurt, Hunter, Mr. Fulton, Burt and Peter who was sitting with two burner phones on the table in front of him. Blaine gulped, sliding the back door closed behind him. He was wrong—things just got a million times worse.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here is the next chapter for you all! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy! **

Chapter 14

"Uncle Peter…" Blaine began to say, but immediately got cut off by Peter.

"Sit," Peter demanded, pointing at the empty chair right next to him.

Blaine hesitated for a moment, fighting the impulse to run. He walked slowly over to the chair and delicately sat down, avoiding eye contact with everyone else in the room. He felt anxious about what Peter was going to do, and also betrayed by Kurt ratting him out to his Uncle. Kurt didn't understand the details of the situation, so therefore shouldn't have gone running to his Uncle. It was the ultimate betrayal.

"So before I absolutely lose it on you two, explain to me why I shouldn't send the two of you to juvie," Peter said softly.

Blaine realized that it wasn't when Peter was yelling at him that he had to fear, it was when he went soft like that. Blaine gulped, fidgeted in his seat, and tried to figure out how to answer him. It was a true testament of how mad his Uncle was that he was threatening to send him to juvie.

"It's my fault," Hunter said before Blaine could really even begin to brainstorm. "I convinced Blaine that it would be better to not tell you."

"It doesn't matter which one of you made the decision to not say anything," Mr. Fulton said in reply. "What matters is why the two of you have these burner phones. You went behind our backs, clearly planning on continuing to pull cons."

"We didn't have a choice!" Blaine finally cried out. "Mr. Clarington blackmailed us!"

"With what?" Peter asked, turning all of his attention toward Blaine and causing him to fidget in his seat again.

Blaine and Hunter made eye contact with each other, silently conversing as to whether or not they should give the full details.

"Boys!" Peter barked out.

"My dad said that if we didn't comply with his demands then he would give incriminating evidence on us to the F.B.I. of crimes you may or may not know that we've committed," Hunter muttered out, picking at his fingernails.

"It's very unlikely there is a crime you've committed we don't know about," Peter said, leaning back in the chair and folding his arms over his chest. "Even so, you know that I will work my ass off to keep the two of you out of juvie. There is a reason that I don't like sending kids there. We worked it out so that the only reason you can be sent to juvie is if you commit a new crime while under this deal or if I decide at any point that this deal isn't working."

"How were we supposed to know that?" Hunter cried out. "You can't blame us for not knowing that, when you didn't tell us."

"No matter what we did and didn't tell you," Mr. Fulton began. "You should have still come to us rather than go through with this plan."

Blaine and Hunter sighed, knowing that even though Peter knew the truth now they were still in a shit ton of trouble. Blaine regretted going along with Hunter and not telling Peter. He knew if he went back in time he would probably do the same thing though, he usually went along with what Hunter asked of him. The two were brothers, and he would never go against his brother. He just didn't like it when he had to face consequences because of it.

Everyone at the table sat in silence for a few moments, all lost in their own thoughts. Kurt was at war with himself as to whether or not to feel guilty. Overall he didn't regret telling Peter, it was something that the man needed to know. He just wished that Blaine would have had the sense to tell Peter in the first place. It wasn't what Kurt thought it was—the boys were being blackmailed, so Blaine hadn't gone back to his old life the way that Kurt had accused. Burt was just thankful that he wasn't the one that would have to deal with this situation. He would of course give Peter some advice, but he was very happy that it wasn't his own son that was sitting at the table in a situation like this. Mr. Fulton was trying to figure out what his next step as a guardian was to be. Ultimately it was Peter's choice as to if Hunter went to juvie, and he couldn't see the man deciding to go that way, but he had to have some adequate response to show the teen that this was a serious situation. Hunter was worried about what Blaine was thinking. He felt that it was his fault that they were in this situation. It was his dad that was blackmailing them and it was he who decided they shouldn't tell Peter. Blaine was facing consequences for that choice. Peter was trying to keep his cool. He didn't think he had ever been as upset as he was when Kurt handed him that burner phone. He thought Blaine had been doing so well, and he was now questioning his choice to keep Hunter so close. The two of them were clearly bad influences on each other. Blaine was just praying that his Uncle would keep his word and keep him out of juvie. He wasn't too worried, the man clearly hated sending people there. He supposed he should be more worried about what his Uncle's alternative punishments were.

"Well I think that our next plan of action is to follow through with what Mr. Clarington is asking," Peter said, breaking the silence. "He doesn't know that the FBI is now aware of what he asked of you two. When we go for the delivery we can arrest him."

"He's not stupid," Hunter stated. "He's going to spot Feds from a mile away. He also won't let anyone else do the exchange but me."

"Your father is clearly desperate at the moment," Peter replied. "He wouldn't have come to you two if he wasn't. He clearly knows he is risking getting arrested because of how closely the two of you are monitored. There has to be some reason that he thinks getting arrested is preferable to not completing this job."

Hunter thought about what Peter said for a few moments before nodding. It wasn't usual for his father to have pulled a move like cornering them in a Costco parking lot. Peter could have very possibly been waiting in the car in the parking lot and have spotted him.

"My team is going to see what we can dig up as to why he would be so desperate for this piece or the money that he can get from this piece," Peter explained. "When we have more information we will bring the two of you into the office to discuss this further."

Blaine and Hunter nodded. Blaine attempted to keep his poker face, but his insides were squirming. It was clear that this part of the conversation was wrapping up, and they were moving into the hard stuff.

"Now what to do with the two of you in the meantime," Peter said with a sigh, running his hands down his face in exhaustion.

"Why don't you two sleep on it and decide in the morning," Burt suggested, looking at his watch. "It's already past 2 in the morning and I don't think any hard decisions should be made this late at night."

Both Peter and Mr. Fulton immediately nodded their agreement to this. They were both exhausted and really didn't want to deal with their two wayward charges at the moment.

"Blaine, go to your room and I don't want to see you out of that bedroom other than to use the bathroom until I fetch you in the morning," Peter said, pointing upstairs in the direction of Blaine's room.

"Yes, sir," Blaine said softly, getting up from his chair to follow his Uncle's orders.

As Blaine headed to go upstairs he caught Kurt's eyes. Kurt looked at him pleading, begging Blaine to forgive him for some of the harsh things that he had said earlier. Blaine just turned his head away and headed upstairs as if he didn't see anything. He wasn't quite ready to fully forgive Kurt yet. Some of those things that he had said had really hurt, not to mention the fact that he went to Peter. It was going to take a little bit of time to get over with.

"Come on Hunter," Mr. Fulton said, gesturing for the boy to stand up as well. "We best head home and you can head straight to your room as well. Like Peter said, I will come get you in the morning and I best find that you have stayed in your room all night. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Hunter muttered in reply, the word still feeling weird on his lips. He could probably count on one hand how many times he used the word 'sir' growing up. He had lost count since living with Mr. Fulton, though.

As soon as Mr. Fulton and Hunter were out the door, Burt moved to stand as well. Kurt didn't follow suit just yet.

"Do you think he will forgive me?" Kurt asked Peter.

"I think it may take some time, but he will eventually realize that you did the right thing by coming to me," Peter replied softly, feeling bad that Kurt was caught in the middle of this. He really wished that Blaine had been more mature and just come to him, because in that case he could have saved them from this whole situation.

"I was just so terrified that he was throwing away all of the progress that he made," Kurt admitted. "I didn't want to lose him because he made some mistake and ended up in jail because of it."

"I promise you, you did the right thing," Peter replied, moving around the table to sit next to Kurt. "I also promise you that Blaine hasn't thrown away all the progress he made, he just made a mistake. I still think he sees that what he did was wrong, but some habits are hard to break. Hunter and Blaine have formed a brotherly bond between the two of them and would do anything for each other. Unfortunately for them, it often leads them astray."

Kurt nodded his understanding. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous of the bond between Blaine and Hunter. He knew that it wasn't in a romantic way like it was between himself and Blaine, but he understood that there were parts of his life that he would only ever share with Hunter. The two were seriously like brothers in that way, and try as he might Kurt would never understand the 'con' part of Blaine's life. Hunter and Blaine had been through so much together and the only ones who could understand it were each other.

"Good night, Peter," Kurt said standing up and pushing the kitchen chair in. "Thank you for letting us have the party here tonight even if things did turn out this way."

Peter nodded. "Good night, Kurt. Don't worry things will get better."

Peter headed up to bed, hoping that Elizabeth would get home soon. Elizabeth had left to take Carole home after Kurt came in with the burner phone. He knew that the two ladies would probably chat until Burt and Kurt got home and then Elizabeth would finally leave. Peter got ready for bed trying to figure out what to do about the situation. It was then that he realized that he still had an important phone call to make.

"Hey, Uncle Peter. What's up?" Cooper answered after the third ring.

"I hope I didn't wake you," Peter said. "I just knew that this phone call couldn't wait until the morning."

Cooper sighed. "What did Blaine do now?"

Peter briefly explained the events of the evening, Elizabeth coming home part way through the explanation. She sat next to Peter on the bed, putting her arms around him in support.

"You are thinking about taking some pretty drastic measures in response to this, aren't you?" Cooper asked once Peter finished his explanation.

"I have to," Peter replied, his voice sounding tired.

"Not that it makes a difference, but no matter what you do you have my support," Cooper replied. "He needs to learn that his serious actions have serious consequences. I just want my little brother back. He has so much potential and it would be such a shame to waste it sitting in a prison cell."

"Your support does matter, Cooper," Peter replied. "I think I know what I have to do."

Cooper promised that he would be there bright and early the next morning for when they talked with Hunter and Blaine. He agreed with what Peter wanted to do, thinking that it was the best response to the situation at hand. Elizabeth also gave her support to the idea. The only thing left was to pitch the idea to Mr. Fulton and then tell the boys. That was going to be the hard part—they were bound to be very unhappy.

Blaine woke up bright and early the next morning. Rolling over in his bed he looked at the alarm clock and saw that it was 7:30. Despite having so little sleep, Blaine found that he could not go back to bed. He was too worried about what was going to happen. Blaine eventually got out of bed and grabbed his guitar, strumming it as quietly as possible so that he wouldn't wake his Aunt or Uncle. It did the trick, playing music always calmed him down. It was really his ticket to another world. Hunter often used drugs and alcohol to get to his happy place, but all Blaine needed was a guitar. Painting helped him clear his head, but not in the same way that music did. Plus he always had to have music blasting when he painted, and not your typical soothing classical music. Blaine painted from everything from AC/DC to Blink-182 and Green Day.

Within the hour Blaine found that he had written a song on the guitar. He had only written a few songs over the years and had never really been that happy with them. This was the first song that he actually felt proud of.

_Even when the sky is falling down,_

_Even when the earth is crumbling round my feet, _

_Even when we try to say goodbye, _

_You could cut the tension with a knife in here, _

'_Cause I know what'll happen, _

_If we get through this _

"Did you write that?"

Blaine's head snapped up, he hadn't even heard anyone walk into the room. Blaine put the guitar down, shifting awkwardly on the bed.

"Yeah, I did," Blaine replied. "I guess I don't need to ask what you're doing here."

"For once I wish you did, little brother," Cooper said, sitting down on the bed next to Blaine and picking up the guitar he put down. "I wish I knew how to play this. I don't have the attention span to learn, though."

Blaine didn't reply. He didn't know what to say.

"You really fucked up this time, Blaine," Cooper said, finally putting the guitar back down after horribly failing at his attempt to play it.

"I know," Blaine whispered in reply. "Do you know what Uncle Peter is planning?"

"I do," Cooper replied. "I agree with it."

Blaine sighed, knowing that he would have to wait to hear what it was. Cooper would never tell him.

"Hunter should be over in about an hour and then Uncle Peter is going to come get you," Cooper said, standing up from the bed. "I just wanted to come see you first."

Without another word Cooper turned and walked out of the room. Blaine sat there for a few moments before deciding to go use the bathroom and take a shower. For all he knew he could be heading to juvie, so this might be the last shower he truly enjoyed for quite a while.

Right on schedule Peter came up to get him an hour later. He didn't say anything other than that Blaine was to come downstairs. When he arrived he found Hunter, Mr. Fulton, Elizabeth and Cooper all sitting at the kitchen table. It felt like a terrible sense of déjà vu. Blaine went and sat down in the same chair that he had occupied the night before.

"Every one of us has discussed this and have come to a unanimous decision," Peter began, walking over to the counter and picking up two items from it. He placed one in front of Hunter and one in front of Blaine.

Blaine hesitated for a moment before finally looking down. It was a brochure and it had **Elton Walker School for Boys **in big bold letters on the front cover.

"You're sending us to reform school?" Hunter cried out before Blaine could even process it.

"It's not a reform school exactly," Mr. Fulton replied.

"Then what is it?" Blaine asked incredulous.

He hadn't opened the brochure yet, not sure that he wanted to know more.

"It's an all-boys boarding school that specializes in troubled teens," Peter explained. "One of my closest friends is the Headmaster there."

"It's gated," Hunter cried out, clearly not having the same reserve as Blaine. He was flipping through the pamphlet trying to figure out as much information as possible.

"You are not allowed to leave the property other than for spring and Easter break when either Mr. Fulton or myself will pick you up," Peter said. "Your day will run like any other school day. You will get up and eat breakfast with your house and you will have classes from 7:55 to 2:15. After that you are required to join a sports team. You will have practice right after classes. After practice there will be a mandatory study hall with your Head of House, followed by dinner. After dinner you have free time until bed. Lights out is at 10."

"Head of House?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is this Hogwarts?"

"You will be separated into different houses when you get there," Mr. Fulton explained. "Fair warning, Peter and I have already contacted the school and told them to not put the two of you in the same house. We think that a little time apart will do you two some good. You do a lot of activities with your house like mandatory community service projects on the weekends and such. Your sports teams are the six different houses playing against each other."

Blaine began flipping through the brochure, trying to process all of this information. That was when Blaine realized something and flipped back to the front cover. He didn't know how he missed it before. Under the name of the school, in a little smaller of font were the words: **Littleton, Colorado. **

"The school is in Colorado?!" Blaine cried out, actually standing up in his shock.

"Yes," Peter replied, gesturing for Blaine to sit back down.

Blaine reluctantly did as Peter asked and sat down.

"We all feel that the two of you will benefit from getting out of New York," Mr. Fulton explained.

"So does that mean the anklet comes off?" Blaine asked hopeful, he didn't want to have to go to another new school with the annoying accessory.

"No," Peter replied. "Both of you are going to keep the anklets. The radius is going to be the school grounds, and the teachers already know how to work it so that you can go on community service trips off campus. Trust me, you guys aren't the only ones on campus with either SCRAM or tracking anklets. There are no violent offenders, but you will meet a lot of petty theft, truancy, and even grand theft auto."

"When do we leave?" Hunter asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Mr. Fulton and Peter both replied at the same time.

"Tomorrow."

All Blaine could think about was what that was going to mean for him and Kurt.

**The song included in this chapter is not actually an original song by Blaine Anderson-shocking, I know. It's called Gotta Get Out by 5 Seconds of Summer, you should check it out. I have a link in my profile to the song. **


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Blaine heard a soft knock on his door while he was in the middle of packing. He dropped his black sock into the bag and headed over to the door to open it. His heart skipped a beat in his chest when he saw that it was Kurt, but it was Kurt like Blaine had never seen him before. He was wearing baggy gray sweatpants and a red McKinley hoodie that Blaine had a feeling was actually Finn's since it was so big on him.

"Come in," Blaine said softly, holding the door open and gesturing for Kurt to enter.

Kurt walked in and sat down on the bed. Blaine walked over and sat down on his desk chair, not sure that he could be that close to Kurt at the moment and still do what he needed to.

"I'm sorry," Kurt said staring down at his hands. "I mean I'm not sorry that I told Peter, but I'm sorry that he's sending you to boarding school."

"I know," was all Blaine could think to reply.

"Are you ever going to forgive me?" Kurt asked, chancing a glance up at his boyfriend…ex-boyfriend, he wasn't even sure.

"I'm not mad at you really," Blaine replied. "I feel a little betrayed, but I know why you did it. I'm more mad at myself that I listened to Hunter. I wanted to tell Peter, he just got into my head."

"Well that's a good thing that you realize you did the wrong thing, right?" Kurt asked, shifting on the bed to cross his legs.

"I mean all it makes me realize is that I can't be trusted. Maybe everyone's right about me, I'm a hopeless criminal bound to keep repeating my past mistakes," Blaine replied, turning and staring out the bedroom window. "I was going to go through with the plan. I was going to forge that painting for Mr. Clarington. I always knew that there would be something I would do to make me lose you."

"You haven't lost me, Blaine," Kurt replied, getting down on his knees in front of Blaine and trying to get the boy to look at him. "I'm still in love with you."

"I love you too," Blaine replied, choking a little on the words. "Which is why I know that I'm not good for you, at least right now."

"What does this all mean, Blaine?" Kurt asked, his stomach sinking. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"I think that we need a break," Blaine replied, finally looking at Kurt. "At least a little time for me to figure things out. You don't need a boyfriend who is all the way in Colorado at a reform school."

"How do you know what I need? You're the best thing that has happened to me," Kurt cried. "You actually made McKinley bearable for me."

"This just can't work for us," Blaine answered, shutting himself off from Kurt. He looked away once more, fighting the urge to cave. He wanted nothing more than to be with Kurt, but knew that this was for the best. "I'm still going to be your friend, Kurt. I just can't fill the role of your boyfriend at the moment."

Kurt stood up from his knees, nodding his head and trying to pull himself together.

"If that's what you think is for the best," Kurt mumbled softly.

"I do," Blaine replied.

"Okay," Kurt said, turning and walking out the door before Blaine say anymore.

Once in the hallway Kurt broke down into sobs, unaware that Blaine was sitting on the other side of the wall doing the same. He still stood by his choice, though. Going to boarding school was going to be something that he had to do on his own. He had to figure out who he wanted to be and what he wanted to do with his life. He just prayed that Kurt would see that in time.

**So this is the end of this story. Thank you so much to all of you that have stuck by it until the very end. This was always the last scene that I had pictured for this story, and a lot of the middle was built up around it. Don't hate me. Are you ready for the magic words? THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL! **


End file.
